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Toy Story 3 – $110.3 Million Opening Weekend (Updated)

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Toy Story 3 debuted on June 18th

Pixar scored its biggest opening weekend (stretching from June 18-20) with an estimted $109 million [Update: Actual total is $110.3 million] for Toy Story 3. The animation studio’s prior largest weekend belonged to The Incredibles, which opened to $70.5 million in May of 2004. Toy Story 3, which was directed by Lee Unkrich, also had an opening day total of about $41 million, the most an animated film has made on its first day of release. The new adventure of Woody and the other toys has been receiving almost universal critical acclaim, with a current Tomatometer rating of 99% on the popular Rotten Tomatoes site.

With Toy Story 3, Pixar’s streak of 10 straight films debuting in first place at the weekend box office turned into 11 straight films. How does Pixar’s opening weekend for its new release stack up against the studio’s earlier releases? Here are their 11 films ranked according to the films’ opening weekend intake. It is important to note that these films are NOT adjusted for inflation, so many of the older films would be higher on the list with today’s higher ticket prices:

  1. Toy Story 3 (June 2010) – $110,307,189
  2. The Incredibles (Nov. 2004) – $70,467,623
  3. Finding Nemo (June 2003) – $70,251,710
  4. Up (May 2009) – $68,108,790
  5. WALL-E (June 2008) -$63,087,526
  6. Cars (June 2006) – $60,119,509
  7. Monsters, Inc. (Nov. 2001) – $62,577,067
  8. Toy Story 2 (Nov. 1999) – $57,388,839
  9. Ratatouille (July 2007) – $47,027,395
  10. A Bug’s Life (Nov. 1998) – $33,258,052
  11. Toy Story (Nov. 1995) – $29,140,617

Coming in next at the weekend box office was Karate Kid with an esimated $29 million and A-Team with about $13.8 million. The weekend’s other big release, Jonah Hex failed to bring in many moviegoers, accumulating just under $5.1 million in ticket sales. Cyrus, which was given a limited release, made $180,300.

On the horizon for Pixar is Cars 2, which has a current release date in June of 2011. Can they make it 12 straight?

UPDATE: Updated opening weekend total to actual amount of $110.3 million.

Source: Box Office Mojo

Toy Story 3 Debuts With Biggest Opening Day Ever For Animated Film

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Buzz with new character, Lotso, as Woody looks on

Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3 made its way into theaters on Friday, June 18, and boasted $41 million in ticket sales in North America. It is the biggest opening ever for an animated film. The former record was held by Shrek The Third, which brought Dreamworks $38.4 million when it was released in May of 2007.

The newest entry in the Toy Story franchise is currently playing in 4,025 theaters, which is also the most amount of theaters a Pixar film has debuted with. Pixar has never before crossed the $100 million mark for an opening weekend, but that will most likely end this weekend.

It has been almost 11 years since the original Toy Story came out in theaters, but it seems as if the passing time only built anticipation for the return of Woody, Buzz, and Andy’s other toys. In the past few months, Disney and Pixar have relentlessly marketed the new film, employing social networking sites and viral marketing to build buzz before its release. In April, “cliffhanger screenings” were screened for college students, where all but the final 20 minutes were shown, leaving them anxious for more. The innovative commercial campaign looks like it has paid off, as the final weekend total for the film may reach $120 million.

The other new releases for the weekend barely made a dent, as Jonah Hex made $1.96 million on Friday, and Cyrus, which was only released into 4 theaters, made $52,211.

Stay tuned for more updates as we find out more.

Source: HollywoodNews.com