'Inside Out 2' takes $295 million and breaks box-office records in a big boost for Disney

• "Inside Out 2" took $295 million at the global box office over the weekend.

• It's a record opening for an animated movie when factoring in exchange rates, Disney said.

• The success is a boost for Disney as the summer blockbuster season gets underway.

"Inside Out 2" smashed box-office records this weekend, giving Disney a big boost as the summer blockbuster season kicks off.

Pixar's owner said on Sunday the film took $155 million in the US as part of a $295 million worldwide total, good enough for the biggest opening for an animated movie when using current exchange rates and like-for-like markets.

On that measure it's a better debut than "The Super Mario Bros Movie" managed and is also the biggest worldwide opening weekend of the year, Deadline reported. Latin America in particular embraced "Inside Out 2" with open arms, giving it a $61 million total across the region.

Disney also said "The Incredibles 2," released in 2018, was the only Pixar release to perform better in the US across its opening weekend.

The first "Inside Out" made $90 million in the summer of 2015 with a $858 million global total.

"Disney and Pixar are back, and so is the summer box office," Shawn Robbins, a film and theatrical consultant, said in a post on X last week after the House of Mouse said "Inside Out 2" made $13 million from domestic previews.

Disney shares were up 1% to about $101 in premarket trading.

The film's strong debut comes at a time when the rise of streaming services has made it tougher for theaters to attract audiences. Universal's "The Fall Guy," which some had positioned as a potential summer blockbuster, underperformed expectations when it was released last month. Last year's Hollywood strikes have also complicated release schedules for studios this year.

This will also be the first year since 2009 that Disney fails to debut a Marvel film in the second quarter. The franchise's only picture of 2024, the R-rated "Deadpool & Wolverine," is due in late July.

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