Absentminded fish sets box office record with new movie 'Finding Dory'

The Pixar sequel 'Dory' has set a new record for an opening weekend for an animated film. How did the movie achieve this success?

The Pixar sequel “Finding Dory” has set a new box office record, achieving the highest weekend opening ever for an animated movie without adjusting for inflation. 

“Dory” was released on June 17 and is a sequel to the 2003 animated film “Finding Nemo.” Like “Nemo,” “Dory” stars Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks, with actors including Ed O’Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, and Diane Keaton coming aboard for the new film. 

The movie grossed more than $136 million domestically, topping the opening weekend gross of the 2007 animated movie “Shrek the Third.” 

Meanwhile, the new comedy “Central Intelligence,” which stars Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, came in second at the box office, grossing more than $34 million domestically. The horror movie “The Conjuring 2,” which opened on June 10, placed third, taking in more than $15 million. 

The magician movie “Now You See Me 2,” which also opened on June 10, placed fourth, grossing more than $9 million, while the game adaptation “Warcraft,” which opened the same week as "Now," came in fifth, grossing more than $6 million.

The massive performance of “Dory” shows that Pixar continues to have success in the summer. Last year, the studio released the movie “Inside Out,” which opened below the box office smash “Jurassic World” yet placed ahead of the dinosaur movie at the box office later on and became one of the highest-grossing films of the year. 

And while animated movies are most likely not viewed as only child’s entertainment any longer – Pixar has two Oscar Best Picture nominations under its belt – the summer is of course a time when children are not in school, and so parents may be looking for an activity for the kids. A new Pixar movie, especially a well-reviewed one – “Dory” has received mostly good notices from critics – seems to fit that bill. 

Affection for “Nemo” also no doubt helped propel “Dory” to its record. Upon its release, “Nemo” became a smash for Pixar and the film is still one of the studio’s highest-grossing ever.