It does, but I think people often overlook it because it's viewed as more of a "James Cameron" film than something Disney had an active hand in crafting. Disney distributes Avatar, but is much more hands-off with the property than they are Star Wars and Marvel.
Oops I didn't think of that because I still think of it is a Fox film separate from Disney.
Because it’s great and there’s nothing in it that could possibly offend anyone?
I could be wrong but I think Elemental did a lot to rehabilitate the Pixar (and Disney animation in general) image. Box office wasn’t great but it had steady holds suggesting good word of mouth and then did well on streaming. It also wasn’t viewed as having much of any controversy and seemed to be Disney getting “back to basics” in storytelling.
There hasn't been a big family-oriented film in theaters since Kung Fu Panda 4 and that was back in March; IF and The Garfield Movie lasting as long as they have in theaters is largely because they were at least catering to that market. The first film is beloved, the marketing campaign was robust, being a sequel there was built-in name recognition, it opened over a holiday weekend where families were going to be looking for stuff to do, and Disney didn't lift the review embargo until as late as they could (so the "good, but not as good as..." reviews didn't do any damage, learning from their mistakes with Elemental, Indiana Jones 5, and Wish).
I feel onward could have been a decent hit had it not been for the pandemic. In the USA, it made in a week the same money wish made in its whole run.
Inside Out 2's budget is reportedly between 175-200 million. Since it probably needs at least 400 million to break even, and it's made $295 million worldwide so far, and there are a lot more key countries that it hasn't yet premiered in...I doubt the folks at Pixar are sweating over it making a profit. It's a true blockbuster, and, best of all, it's a creation that isn't derived from an Iger acquisition but was created from whole cloth - an original. That's the kind of creativity that harkens back to Pixar's Golden Age. I couldn't be happier that it's doing so well.Updated numbers for Inside Out 2 from Disney: estimated $155 million domestic and $295 million worldwide.
"The Pixar Animation Studios film — which brings audiences back into the mind of Riley as she deals with a host of new emotions as a teenager — made an estimated $155 million at the domestic box office this weekend.
That makes Inside Out 2 not only the biggest box office opening of the year, but the second-biggest animated box office opening of all time domestically behind another Pixar film, 2018’s Incredibles 2.
As for the global total of Inside Out 2, it has made $295 million worldwide so far."
More at the link below.
‘Inside Out 2’ Brings in Second-Biggest Animated Box Office Opening Ever - The Walt Disney Company
"Inside Out 2" had a big weekend at the box office for Pixar Animation Studios, bringing in the second-biggest animated opening of all time.thewaltdisneycompany.com
It was already under production when they started to reduce budgets, so likely is one of the last with a higher budget.
I think it’s because they made a family friendly movie everyone can go see.
If only Walt had thought of doing such a thing…
There was a demand to revisit the universe and the characters. My kids actually wanted to go to the theater to watch it.
They’ve never not done that.
