The past few weeks at the box office have been concerning big studios, as films that were expected to be blockbusters flopped again and again. Dark Phoenix, Men in Black: International, and Godzilla: King of Monsters all underperformed compared to earlier installments of their respective series.
This weekend though Toy Story 4 broke the sequel-itis trend with a $118 million domestic opening, which is still below the estimate of $136 million. However, it’s significantly better than the losses occurred by series films this season.
Globally, Toy Story brought in $238 million, making it the highest global opening box office for an animated film.
Much like the previous installments of the franchise, reviews are all-around positive. The Rotten Tomatoes scores come in at 98% critic and 95% user approval. The Cinemascore is also positive with an A-rating. Having good reviews and a star-studded voice cast including Tom Hanks (plus new addition Keanu Reeves) always helps.
This year Disney has been dominating the slow box office, with Avengers: Endgame and Captain Marvel holding the 2 slots ahead of Toy Story 4 for highest opening earnings of the year. Disney’s Aladdin holds the third spot for cumulative domestic earnings, so we’ll see if this beloved series sequel can beat out the classic remake. Overall though, it’s clear that Disney is consistently good at bringing in audiences.