Media company The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) scored a box office hit with the highly anticipated Pixar sequel "Inside Out 2." The success of the movie could help Disney and movie theater stocks, as it follows the recent strong showing of "Bad Boys: Ride or Die" in June.

What Happened: Expectations were high for "Inside Out 2" and Disney saw the sequel turn in a strong performance for the company.

The movie opened with $155 million during its opening weekend, which marked the biggest domestic opening of 2024 and the best numbers since "Barbie" hit theaters in July 2023. Estimates called for the film to open with $80 million to $90 million domestically, as reported by Variety.

The film posted an international box office take of $140 million, which broke the record of the largest international animated film open, previously held by "Frozen 2" ($135 million). Variety reported the film saw a strong open in Latin America, with "Inside Out 2" the second-biggest opening in the region of all-time, trailing only "Avengers: Endgame."

The film grossed $295 million worldwide during its opening weekend, marking the biggest animated debut ever in "like-for-like markets at current exchange rates," Variety said.

"Inside Out 2" posted the second-largest opening domestically for Pixar, trailing only "Incredibles 2" ($182 million), but passing several huge hits like "Finding Dory" and "Toy Story 4."

The original "Inside Out" went on to gross $356 million domestically and $858.8 million worldwide.

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Why It's Important: Along with Disney winning from the strong opening weekend, movie theater companies like AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE:AMC) and Cinemark Holdings (NYSE:CNK) will be pleased with the results.

Not only is "Inside Out 2" the biggest open since "Barbie" domestically, the film is the first to open with more than $100 million since that time. The strength of "Inside Out 2" along with "Bad Boys: Ride or Die" also helped the domestic box office post its first $200 million weekend in 2024.

Data from Comscore indicates that the box office is down 23.8% year-over-year domestically in 2024.

AMC reported the weekend was its best for 2024 for attendance and box office gross, both domestically and globally. The movie theater leader said over one million people watched a movie at an AMC theater domestically on each of Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

From Thursday through Sunday, AMC said it saw 3.8 million people in the U.S.

"One again, the moviegoing public has demonstrated that the magic of the movies and the theatrical experiences is alive and powerful," AMC CEO Adam Aron said.

Imax Corporation (NYSE:IMAX) also posted a strong showing from its theaters that screened "Inside Out 2." The company saw $14.5 million from global ticket sales of "Inside Out 2." According to Variety, the film was the fourth-biggest animated debut, excluding China for Imax.

"With the phenomenal opening of ‘Inside Out 2' – which exceeded some projections by nearly 50% – and big advance tracking on a number of forthcoming releases, the post-strike comeback is officially on," Imax CEO Rich Gelfond said.

Disney and movie theater companies will be hoping for more box office magic in the coming months. Disney has "Deadpool & Wolverine" and "Moana 2" also coming to theaters.

Current tracking shows "Deadpool & Wolverine" on pace to open with $200 million to $239 million, which could help break several records from R-rated movies.

DIS Price Action: Disney shares were up 1.58% to $101.52 on Monday, versus a 52-week trading range of $78.73 to $123.74. Disney stock is up 12% year-to-date in 2024.

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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.