Box Office: 'Toy Story 4' Sets Global Record, but Falls Short of Expectations

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The Disney-Pixar movie posts the largest worldwide debut for an animated film, despite opening below the studio's predictions of $140 million domestically.

Jun 24, 2019

AceShowbiz - "Toy Story 4" has arrived to save box office from sluggish weekends. The fourth installment of the hit animated movie series has become a new champion at the chart, debuting to an estimated $118 million domestically.

The Josh Cooley-directed flick, however, fell considerably short of Disney's initial projections of $140-$160 million opening. It, however, is still more than good enough to become the third-highest opening for a Pixar film, and the fourth-highest opening for an animated film ever.

Despite the movie's rave reviews, earning a 98% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, people apparently doubted if they needed another sequel after "Toy Story 3" wrapped up the series so perfectly.

Disney, however, remains optimistic about the flick's long haul. "Looking at these four hugely popular 'Toy Story' films in 25 years, there's remarkable consistency to what Pixar puts out," said Cathleen Taff, Disney's president of global distribution. "It's a testament to the team's commitment to excellence."

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Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, seemed to support this theory, telling CNN Business, "This is a movie that's in it for the long haul, both in North America and worldwide."

When the international markets are taken into account, "Toy Story 4" has performed even better. The movie opened to a stellar $238 million worldwide, including $120 million from the foreign theaters. It marks the third-highest opening for a Pixar film, and the fourth-highest opening for an animated film ever behind 2018's "Incredibles 2" ($182 million), 2016's "Finding Dory" ($135 million), and 2007's "Shrek the Third" ($121 million).

Back to the North American box office, the new "Child's Play" movie debuts at No. 2 with an estimated $14 million. That's a solid start for the modestly budgeted horror film, which stars "Star Wars" veteran Mark Hamill as the voice of evil doll Chucky. The remake to the 1998 thriller reportedly cost only $10 million to produce.

Disney's live-action "Aladdin" holds on to No. 3 with additional $12.2 million, dropping only 29.5% from last weekend. "Men in Black: International", on the other hand, dips from No. 1 to No. 4 with approximately $10.8 million, followed by "The Secret Life of Pets 2" which also plunges from No. 2 to No. 5 with an estimated $10.3 million.

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