The numbers are in and the heartwarming and hilarious Finding Dory has broken box office records. Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the film has garnered $136.2 Million (domestic) in its opening weekend — which is the highest net opening for an animated film (previously set by Shrek the Third at 121.6 Million).
Pre-release estimates predicted that Finding Dory would pull $115 Million in its opening weekend, but with extremely positive user/critic ratings, as well as Boxoffice Pro reporting that Dory was its highest pre-sale animated film to date, the hugely successful opening may just be the tip of the iceberg.
In 2003, Finding Nemo’s worldwide box office totaled $936.7 Million and its opening weekend garnered $70.3 Million. As we look forward to the next few months of box office success, it will be interesting to see how quickly Finding Dory may approach the $1 Billion mark (a feat only reached by four other animated films — Frozen [1,276.5 Billion], Minions [1,159.4 Billion], Toy Story 3 [1,063.2 Billion] and most recently, Zootopia [1,012.0]).
UPDATED: Finding Dory surpassed $1 Billion at the box office.
BOX OFFICE SUMMARY
- June 16 (Thursday) – Previews – $9.2 Million (animated feature film record)
- June 17 (Friday) – Official Release date – $54 Million
- June 18-19 – Opening Weekend – $73 Million (domestic) and another $50 Million (international)
Domestic Total – $136.2 Million — Worldwide Total – $186.2 Million
Congratulations again to the entire Finding Dory and Pixar team for their hard work in bringing this brilliant film to life. If you haven’t yet, read our full review of the film and soundtrack – then be sure to head to the Pixar Post Forum and share your Finding Dory review with other Pixar fans.
