Toy Story 4 opens big with 118 million dollarshttps://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/hollywood/toy-story-4-box-office-118-million-dollars-5796474/

Toy Story 4 opens big with 118 million dollars

The opening for Toy Story 4 followed a string of disappointing sequels including Dark Phoenix, Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Men in Black: International. But Toy Story 4 had something those films didn’t: great reviews. It rates 98% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Toy Story
Tom Hanks, left, poses with his character Woody as he arrives at the world premiere of Toy Story 4 on Tuesday. (Photo: AP)

Toy Story 4 brought the box office to life with a 118 million dollars opening weekend after a three-week slump of underperforming sequels, but the Pixar film’s below-expectations debut didn’t quell continuing concerns about a rocky summer movie season.

The Toy Story 4 opening, according to studio estimates Sunday, ranks as the fourth highest animated film opening ever, not accounting for inflation. Above it are 2018′s Incredibles 2 (182 million dollars), 2016′s Finding Dory (135 million dollars), and 2007′s Shrek the Third (121 million dollars). It’s the year’s third largest debut, trailing only a pair of other Disney releases: Avengers: Endgame and Captain Marvel.

But heading into the weekend, a 140-150 dollars million opening had seemed assured for Toy Story 4, which played in 4,575 North American theaters. Adjusted for inflation, the film came in shy of the 110.3 million dollars — or about 129 million in today’s dollars — Toy Story 3 made nine years ago.

The opening for Toy Story 4 followed a string of disappointing sequels including Dark Phoenix, Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Men in Black: International. But Toy Story 4 had something those films didn’t: great reviews. It rates 98% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences gave it an A CinemaScore.

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The sequel, which introduces the child-made plaything Forky (voiced by Tony Hale) to the voice cast including Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, also grossed 120 million dollars internationally, including a modest 13.4 million dollars in China, the world’s second largest film market. It was trounced there by the rerelease of Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 animated classic Spirited Away from Studio Ghibli, the Japan animation studio that has often served as an inspiration to Pixar.

Cathleen Taff, distribution chief for Disney, said the company was thrilled with the opening and praised Pixar’s high standards.

“The Pixar team has always been disciplined about making sure they have a compelling story to tell, and that is especially true when it comes to sequels if you look at their past,” said Taff. “Their process of sort of going through the rigor of making sure that this is a story people want told, the end result speaks for itself.”

The overall marketplace didn’t give Toy Story 4 much momentum. Last week’s top film, Sony Pictures’ poorly reviewed Men in Black International slid 64%, slipping to fourth place with 10.8 million dollars.

The No. 2 film, Orion Pictures’ horror remake Child’s Play — cheekily positioned as the weekend’s R-rated toy movie — also opened below expectations with 14.1 million dollars. A remake of the 1988 original, the film stars Aubrey Plaza with Mark Hamill voicing the knife-wielding doll Chucky.

Luc Besson’s assassin thriller Anna missed out on the top 10 entirely, opening with a mere 3.5 million dollars in 2,114 theaters. Lionsgate, which bought US distribution rights in 2017, did little to promote the film in advance of its release. In 2018, Besson was accused of a rape by the actress Sand Van Roy. A lawyer for Besson denied the accusation and French authorities dropped the investigation in February citing a lack of evidence. Eight other women also accused Besson of sexual misconduct in a French publication.

In a summer season that’s running 6.5% off the pace of last year, according to Comscore, many had positioned Toy Story 4 as a surefire savior, due in part to the enviable track record of Disney and Pixar. (Disney’s Aladdin remake this weekend passed 800 million dollars worldwide.) Instead, the weekend was down 27.2% from the same frame last year. Overwhelming the industry’s market leader, Disney was thought immune to any sequel downturn.

But most other studios would love to have a film underperform to 118 million dollars, with an expectation of long-term playability. Outside Sony’s upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home, Toy Story 4 has no family-friendly competition until Disney’s own Lion King remake opens July 19.

“The numbers being bandied about out there pre-weekend were certainly much higher than the number that it came in with,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “But if we bring it down to earth and put some perspective on this, it was still a franchise-high debut. It was a global opening of 238 million dollars.”

But with underwhelming returns for even critically acclaimed comedies like Booksmart and seemingly surefire bets like The Secret Life of Pets 2, little has gone according to plan in Hollywood’s primetime season.

“The summer has been a real head-scratcher,” said Dergarabedian.

In limited release, Neon’s Wild Rose, about a Scottish single mother (Jessie Buckley) who dreams of being a country music star, opened with a per-theater average of 14,046 dollars in four locations, and Magnolia Pictures’ documentary Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am debuted with a per-theater average of 11,000 dollars in four locations.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.

  1. Toy Story 4, 118 million dollars (120 million dollars international).
  2. Child’s Play, 14.1 million dollars (3.6 million dollars international).
  3. Aladdin, 12.2 million dollars (32.9 million dollars international).
  4. Men in Black International, 10.8 million dollars (30.2 million dollars international).
  5. The Secret Life of Pets 2, 10.3 million dollars (10.8 million dollars international).
  6. Rocketman, 5.7 million dollars (5.5 million dollars international).
  7. John Wick: Chapter 3, 4.1 million dollars (3.4 million dollars international).
  8. Godzilla: King of the Monsters, 3.7 million dollars (4 million dollars international).
  9. Dark Phoenix, 3.6 million dollars (11.1 million dollars international).
  10. Shaft, 3.6 million dollars.

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Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the US and Canada), according to Comscore.

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  1. Toy Story 4, 120 million dollars.
  2. Aladdin, 32.9 million dollars.
  3. Men in Black International, 30.2 million dollars.
  4. Spirited Away, 28.8 million dollars.
  5. Dark Phoenix, 11.1 million dollars.
  6. The Secret Life of Pets 2, 10.8 million dollars.
  7. Rocketman, 5.5 million dollars.
  8. Parasite, 4.8 million dollars.
  9. Long Live the King, 4.1 million dollars.
  10. Godzilla: King of the Monsters, 4 million dollars.