While Pixar films have received mixed responses from critics over the last few years, the general public continues to come out in droves. The Pixar brand is the strongest in Hollywood, with all 13 of its prior films debuting at the top spot of the weekend box office during their opening weekends. In North America alone, those films have together brought in over $3 billion. Monsters University, which opened this past weekend, has kept the perfect streak going, raking in approximately $82 million. Find more details after the break!
UPDATE: The box office numbers have all been updated to reflect the actual gross.
With the film’s built-in audience of excited Pixar fans and those who enjoyed Monsters, Inc., its opening day was understandably its most financially successful. Here is the film’s estimated 3-day breakdown of its $82,429,469 gross (via Box Office Mojo):
- Friday 6/21: $30,473,099 (including $2.6 million from Thu evening showings)
- Saturday 6/22: $28,733,991
- Sunday 6/23: $23,222,379
Even facing some major competition from World War Z and Man of Steel, Monsters University dominated. Together, the three films helped to contribute towards one of the greatest box office weekends in history. The weekend’s split demonstrated that there is sufficient space at the movies for entertainment aimed at varied audiences.
Comparing opening weekends, Monsters University, directed by Dan Scanlon, is the second biggest for Pixar. Toy Story 3 was, by far, the biggest performer for the studio, bringing in over $110 million during its first three days, fueled by the generation that grew up with the franchise. MU similarly seems to be connecting with those who have watched Monsters, Inc. since its release almost 12 years ago, in 2001. Those who were in elementary school when the first film debuted would be either entering college or already attending.
Take a look at the Pixar opening weekend chart:
- Toy Story 3……………$110,307,189
- Monsters University…..$82,429,469
- The Incredibles………..$70,467,623
- Finding Nemo………….$70,251,710
- Up…………………………$68,108,790
- Brave……………………..$66,323,594
- Cars 2…………………….$66,135,507
- WALL-E………………….$63,087,526
- Monsters, Inc…………..$62,577,067
- Cars………………………$60,119,509
- Toy Story 2……………..$57,388,839
- Ratatouille………………$47,027,395
- A Bug’s Life…………….$33,258,052
- Toy Story………………..$29,140,617
Deviating from the Hollywood norm of rushing sequels to take advantage of current buzz that may disappear before too long, Pixar has been in no hurry whatsoever to develop follow-ups to its gold mine of great films. If The Incredibles (2004) property had been in the hands of any other studio, we would have seen numerous sequels or prequels years ago, with or without the original director. Even though we have seen an increased rate of sequels/prequels from Pixar over the last four years, three out of the next four films from the studio are based on original stories. Those include Bob Peterson’s The Good Dinosaur, Pete Docter’s Inside Out, and Lee Unkrich’s Untitled Film About Dia de los Muertos. We hopefully have many great Pixar stories to look forward to in the future.
