There was no question whether Pixar’s first television special, Toy Story of Terror, would be successful, especially given the sheer popularity of the franchise. Pixar also makes bringing millions of viewers to theaters look incredibly easy, as there is a certain level of trust that audiences have developed in the Pixar brand. The TV special aired last night and it surprised no one to see it bring in droves of viewers. Read more about the numbers after the break!
‘Monsters University’ Crosses $700 Million Mark
It is challenging to decide which is more impressive – Pixar’s strong track record with the quality of its films or the studio’s ability to consistently release films that are immensely successful financially. Pixar films have grossed a combined $8 billion worldwide, demonstrating the animation studio’s worldwide popularity. There was no question that Monsters University would continue to rain financial success upon Pixar this year. Just last week, the film crossed the $700 million mark, making it the studio’s fourth highest grossing film worldwide.
‘Monsters University’ Takes Top Spot Again In Second Weekend
It is customary for films’ box office take to drop 50% or more in their second weekends, especially when considering franchises. The idea is that there is a built-in audience excited to view the films during opening weekend, and then come their second weekend, there is a significant dip in the number of interested parties. Positive word-of-mouth is a major force that prevents large drops, something we have seen often with Pixar films. In its second weekend, Monsters University performed admirably, dropping only 44%, and stayed at the top of the box office. Read about all the numbers after the break!
‘Monsters University’ Opens Big With $82 Million (Updated)
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!
‘Brave’ Crosses $200 Million Mark At The Box Office
Pixar films have a phenomenally consistent record at the box office, averaging well over $200 million in North America alone. Before last week, nine of the previously released 12 films from the animation studio had settled at a number larger than $200 million. Brave has followed in the footsteps of those films and just last week joined them, crossing the mark last Wednesday. Factoring in the film’s gross from this weekend, it climbed the chart of Pixar films to become the ninth biggest (domestically) from the studio. [Read more…]
‘Brave’ Stays Strong In Third Weekend, Closing In On $200 Million
More than sheer spectacle is necessary if a film is to maintain some strength throughout its box office run. If it suffers from bad word-of-mouth, odds are that the numbers will experience percentage drops of more than 50% in subsequent weekends. More often than not, Pixar films have stayed strong in their third and fourth weekends and beyond, making the Pixar brand extremely bankable. Pixar’s Brave grossed an estimated $20 million in its third weekend, which now has it closing in upon the $200 million mark. [Read more…]
‘Brave’ Adds Estimated $34 Million In Its Second Weekend
Box office success depends on more than the opening weekend, as those who are the most excited to see a film will go see it as early as they can. The real challenge for studios is bringing in the audience that is on the fence – a good film will usually accomplish that with the circulation of positive word-of-mouth. Last weekend, Brave took in over $66 million, and many box office analysts expected it to hold rather well in its second weekend, with two R-rated films opening. While it did not maintain the number one spot, Pixar’s latest was still up to the challenge and brought home an estimated $34 million. After the break, we take a closer look at how Brave is holding up against its Pixar brethren. [Read more…]
‘Brave’ Opens To $66 Million – Pixar Continues To Be A Force At The Box Office
Pixar has been enjoying an incredible run of success stories, dating all the way back to Toy Story, its first feature film, and the first feature-length computer animated film in the industry. Before this weekend, the studio had released 12 feature films in theaters, and all 12 of them had opened at the number one slot at the box office during its opening weekend. Pixar seems unstoppable in that department, as Brave officially lengthened that streak to 13, bringing in over $66 million in North America this weekend. [Read more…]
Cars 2 Grosses Estimated $68 Million On Opening Weekend (Updated)
UPDATE 2 (6/26/11): Box Office Mojo has released the latest numbers.
UPDATE 1 (6/25/11): Adjusted the numbers based on new reports.
Box Office Mojo is reporting that Cars 2 grossed an estimated $25.7 million on opening day, and is taking in an estimated $68 million for the entire weekend. This puts it in the range of previous Pixar releases. Most of the studio’s films have opened to an opening weekend gross between $50 million and $70 million. Only Toy Story 3 has been able to exceed that, taking in $110 million in its premiere weekend. Read on for more on the predicted weekend box office. [Read more…]
Box Office Roundup: Toy Story 3 Smashes More Records
Audiences are still enjoying Toy Story 3 in theaters, even though the film was released over 2 months ago in many parts of the world. In the U.S. and Canada, Disney and Pixar decided to expand the amount of theaters playing the film to over 1500 (an increase of about 900) to take advantage of the holiday weekend. Think of it as a last hurrah before the film will leave theaters behind in favor of DVD and Blu-ray players. The theater expansion predictably benefited the third part of the Toy Story franchise, with a 3-day weekend box office gross of $1.94 million (92% increase over the same period last week). The box office take over the 4-day holiday weekend was $2.7 million, bringing its total North American tally to $408.89 million (#9 all time). [Read more…]
