The last few weekends have solidified this summer season as one of the more disappointing when it comes to the box office, with movies like GODZILLA, DARK PHOENIX, MEN IN BLACK and SHAFT all underperforming. That means to turn around a bit this weekend with the release of TOY STORY 4, and everyone’s favorite batch of plastic playthings kicked off their box office domination on Thursday night with an impressive $12 million haul.
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As far as animated movies go, TOY STORY 4’s preview night showing was the second-best on record, behind the release of INCREDIBLES 2 last year ($18 million) but ahead of another fellow Pixar sequel, FINDING DORY ($9 million). Both of those movies opened to $182 million and $135 million, respectively, and while some early projections placed TOT STORY on track to surpass the former, the current projections are placing it around $140-160 million for the weekend.
This would give TOY STORY 4 the second-largest opening weekend ever for an animated movie and would start it off on what should be some very healthy legs going into the future weekends. Anticipation for the fourquel is incredibly high given how fast tickets were selling at the start, and the reviews have only given more confidence with a current 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not only are longtime fans ready to see Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen) and more back on screen again with their own kids, but it’s the only family movie from now until THE LION KING one month from now (lest you count SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME as a “family” film), so the sky is the limit for this next and perhaps final outing for the squad of toys.
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As for the other toy-related feature coming out from the opposite end of the spectrum, the CHILD’S PLAY remake bowed to about $1.7 million from last night’s shows, which is a little higher than Blumhouse’s MA with Octavia Spencer, which debuted in May to about $18 million against GODZILLA, ROCKETMAN and ALADDIN’s second weekend. The division is about the same this weekend, and CHILD’S PLAY is on track for a solid $15-20 million frame, even if that’s not quite the same as the $76 million opening of last October’s HALLOWEEN and the $123 million from IT in summer 2017.
TOY STORY 4 is in theaters today!