The lead-up to the release to Finding Dory has been long and drawn out but it’s finally here and it’s breaking records already!
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“Finding Dory”, the sequel to 2003’s highly popular “Finding Nemo”, grossed $136.2 million in its domestic debut, according to studio estimates Sunday (final numbers are due later Monday).
The previous record for an animated movie’s opening weekend was set by Shrek the Third, which pulled in $121.6 million when it opened in 2007.
Toy Story 3 itself opened with $110.3 million (£75.6m) and was Pixar’s biggest offering, until the follow up to the much loved Finding Nemo.
Paul Dergarabedian, comScore’s senior media analyst, said: “The thought was ‘could this be the movie to eclipse Toy Story 3’s opening, not, ‘could it become the biggest animated opening of all time?'”.
“It’s unbelievable when you look at the longevity of this brand, the viability of it, and the unfettered enthusiasm pretty much everyone has for Pixar”, ComScore movie analyst Paul Dergarabedian explained.
Disney’s executive vice president of distribution, Dave Hollis, commented that “Finding Dory” attracted a more diverse mix of moviegoers than most Pixar films.
He said: ‘That’s really a testament to this being a picture for everyone – not just for families’. “The Finding Nemo brand has been building with audiences for 13 years, first on the big screen and then on the small screen. The female audience powered this opening weekend”.
We will find out what all the hype is about when Finding Dory swims into Irish cinemas on July 29. The success of “Finding Dory” and “Central Intelligence” also comes after a few weekends of underwhelming sequels and all-out flops. The sequel blew away her competition, including Central Intelligence, a comedy with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart that also was new in theaters this weekend.
Yes, it’s going to make Disney a lot of money, but I hope they resist the temptation to churn out a third; surely that would be pushing things too much. “Dory” has grossed $50 million overseas. The computer-animated movie opened to $70 million and ended its original domestic run with $339 million.
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Now You See Me 2 and Warcraft rounded off the top five. Where available, the latest global numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.
