‘Toy Story 4’ opens big but below expectations with $118M

NEW YORK – “Toy Story 4” brought the box office to life with a $118 million opening weekend after a three-week slump of underperforming sequels, but the Pixar film’s below-expectations debut didn’t quell continuing concerns about a rocky summer movie season.

The “Toy Story 4” opening, according to studio estimates Sunday, ranks as the fourth highest animated film opening ever, not accounting for inflation.

Tom Hanks, left, poses with his character Woody as he arrives at the world premiere of “Toy Story 4” on Tuesday, June 11, 2019, at the El Capitan in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Above it are 2018’s “Incredibles 2” ($182 million), 2016’s “Finding Dory” ($135 million), and 2007’s “Shrek the Third” ($121 million). It’s the year’s third largest debut, trailing only a pair of other Disney releases: “Avengers: Endgame” and “Captain Marvel.”

But heading into the weekend, a $140-150 million opening had seemed assured for “Toy Story 4,” which played in 4,575 North American theaters.

Adjusted for inflation, the film came in shy of the $110.3 million — or about $129 million in today’s dollars — “Toy Story 3” made nine years ago.

The opening for “Toy Story 4” followed a string of disappointing sequels including “Dark Phoenix,” ”Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and “Men in Black: International.” But “Toy Story 4” had something those films didn’t: great reviews. It rates 98% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences gave it an A CinemaScore.

The sequel, which introduces the child-made plaything Forky (voiced by Tony Hale) to the voice cast including Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, also grossed $120 million internationally, including a modest $13.4 million in China, the world’s second largest film market.

This undated image provided by Disney/Pixar shows a scene from the movie “Toy Story 4.” (Disney/Pixar via AP)

It was trounced there by the rerelease of Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 animated classic “Spirited Away” from Studio Ghibli, the Japan animation studio that has often served as an inspiration to Pixar.

Cathleen Taff, distribution chief for Disney, said the company was thrilled with the opening and praised Pixar’s high standards.

“The Pixar team has always been disciplined about making sure they have a compelling story to tell, and that is especially true when it comes to sequels if you look at their past,” said Taff.

“Their process of sort of going through the rigor of making sure that this is a story people want told, the end result speaks for itself.”

The overall marketplace didn’t give “Toy Story 4” much momentum. Last week’s top film, Sony Pictures’ poorly reviewed “Men in Black International” slid 64 percent, slipping to fourth place with $10.8 million.

The No. 2 film, Orion Pictures’ horror remake “Child’s Play” — cheekily positioned as the weekend’s R-rated toy movie — also opened below expectations with $14.1 million. A remake of the 1988 original, the film stars Aubrey Plaza with Mark Hamill voicing the knife-wielding doll Chucky.

Luc Besson’s assassin thriller “Anna” missed out on the top 10 entirely, opening with a mere $3.5 million in 2,114 theaters.

In a summer season that’s running 6.5% off the pace of last year, according to Comscore, many had positioned “Toy Story 4” as a surefire savior, due in part to the enviable track record of Disney and Pixar. (Disney’s “Aladdin” remake this weekend passed $800 million worldwide.)

Instead, the weekend was down 27.2% from the same frame last year. Overwhelming the industry’s market leader, Disney was thought immune to any sequel downturn.

But most other studios would love to have a film underperform to $118 million, with an expectation of long-term playability. Outside Sony’s upcoming “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” ”Toy Story 4″ has no family-friendly competition until Disney’s own “Lion King” remake opens July 19.

“The numbers being bandied about out there pre-weekend were certainly much higher than the number that it came in with,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “But if we bring it down to earth and put some perspective on this, it was still a franchise-high debut. It was a global opening of $238 million.”

But with underwhelming returns for even critically acclaimed comedies like “Booksmart” and seemingly surefire bets like “The Secret Life of Pets 2,” little has gone according to plan in Hollywood’s primetime season.

“The summer has been a real head-scratcher,” said Dergarabedian.

In limited release, Neon’s “Wild Rose,” about a Scottish single mother (Jessie Buckley) who dreams of being a country music star, opened with a per-theater average of $14,046 in four locations, and Magnolia Pictures’ documentary “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” debuted with a per-theater average of $11,000 in four locations.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.

1. “Toy Story 4,” $118 million ($120 million international).
2. “Child’s Play,” $14.1 million ($3.6 million international).
3. “Aladdin,” $12.2 million ($32.9 million international).
4. “Men in Black International,” $10.8 million ($30.2 million international).
5. “The Secret Life of Pets 2,” $10.3 million ($10.8 million international).
6. “Rocketman,” $5.7 million ($5.5 million international).
7. “John Wick: Chapter 3,” $4.1 million ($3.4 million international).
8. “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” $3.7 million ($4 million international).
9. “Dark Phoenix,” $3.6 million ($11.1 million international).
10. “Shaft,” $3.6 million.

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Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Comscore.

1. “Toy Story 4,” $120 million.
2. “Aladdin,” $32.9 million.
3. “Men in Black International,” $30.2 million.
4. “Spirited Away,” $28.8 million.
5. “Dark Phoenix,” $11.1 million.
6. “The Secret Life of Pets 2,” $10.8 million.
7. “Rocketman,” $5.5 million.
8. “Parasite,” $4.8 million.
9. “Long Live the King,” $4.1 million.
10. “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” $4 million. /gsg