INSIDE OUT (Pixar/Disney) is in line for the biggest non-sequel opening in the history of animation. Preliminary numbers at Deadline have it winning Friday with $32.8M (that includes $3.7M from Thursday night), on its way to a weekend that should be at least $85M–and could be more, since word of mouth should be sky-high. (The current Saturday projection is based on the 5% Day 2 decline for Pixar’s last non-sequel Brave, but that was far less rhapsodically received. By comparison, Up grew by 23% on its 2d day of release, and if Inside Out plays that well, it could get close to a 9-figure weekend.) Inside Out wasn’t cheap, with production/marketing costs that will top $325M, but it should be a strong performer for weeks to come and reap plenty of profit.
Despite all that, Inside Out is unlikely to win the weekend. the latest victim of the rampaging dinosaurs of JURASSIC WORLD (Legendary/Universal). Jurassic fell 63% on its 2d Friday to a still gigantic $30.7M, and it may hit $105M for the weekend. That would be the biggest 2d weekend ever, beating The Avengers’ $103.1M, and put Jurassic over $400M by Sunday, faster by 4 days than Avengers’ record pace to that number. The question will be whether Jurassic has the legs of Avengers, which despite the slightly slower start, made it all the way to $623.4M in the US.
Nothing else was within the same zip code as the two blockbusters. SPY (20th) continues to hold well, down 38% Friday-to-Friday to $2.9M, and on its way to a $10M weekend and $95M in the US. SAN ANDREAS (Rat Pac Dune/Village Roadshow/New Line/Warners) recovered from last week’s Jurassic attack, falling just 34% from last Friday to $2.1M for a $7M weekend and likely US total around $150M.
The Sundance hit DOPE (Open Road) opened at an ambitious 2002 theatres and had a $2M Friday for perhaps a $6M weekend, giving it an OK $3000 per-theatre average.
THE OVERNIGHT (Orchard) and INFINITELY POLAR BEAR (Sony Classics) are much smaller Sundance titles that entered limited release, with Overnight on its way to a $16K per-theatre average at 3, and Polar Bear an $8K average at 5.
About the Author
