Disney & Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” Featuring Lilimar Hernandez, Tops Weekend Box Office with $155 Million Haul

Lilimar Hernandez is celebrating a massive box office debut…

Disney and Pixar‘s expressive animated sequel Inside Out 2, which stars the 24-year-old Venezuela-born Cuban actress, scored a mighty $155 million in its first weekend of release, overtaking Dune: Part Two ($82.5 million) and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ($80 million) as the biggest opening of the year.

Lilimar Hernandez,It’s also the first movie since last July’s Barbie ($162 million) to debut above $100 million.

Heading into the weekend, the follow-up film to 2015’s cerebral hit Inside Out was projected to collect $80 million to $90 million.

Inside Out 2 also connected at the international box office with $140 million, enough to surpass Frozen 2 ($135 million) as the biggest overseas animated opening of all time.

Turnout was especially strong across Latin America, where it landed the second-biggest opening of all time behind Disney’s Marvel epic Avengers: Endgame.

Globally, the movie has grossed $295 million to notch the title for biggest animated debut in like-for-like markets at current exchange rates. It carries a $200 million production budget.

Inside Out 2 marks a huge win for theaters, which have been nervously waiting for the dismal summer season to take off. It’s also a triumph for Pixar, which has struggled at the box office in recent years as Disney sent films like Turning Red, Soul and Luca directly to Disney+ during the pandemic.

Pixar chief Pete Docter, who directed 2015’s Inside Out, maintained that COVID-era strategy “trained” audiences to watch the studio’s movies at home — hence the comparatively less-embraced theatrical releases of 2022’s Lightyear and 2023’s Elemental.

Well, it looks like families have rediscovered the power of Pixar on the big screen.

This debut marks the second biggest in Pixar history, ahead of 2016’s Finding Dory ($135 million) and 2019’s Toy Story 4 ($120 million) and behind only 2018’s Incredibles 2 ($182 million).

Ticket sales for Inside Out 2 towered over the original, which opened to $90.5 million.

The first “Inside Out” became a runaway, Oscar-winning success, ending its theatrical run with $356 million in North America and $858.8 million globally.

“This is a sensational opening by Pixar’s own exceptional standard for a follow-up sequel,” says David A. Gross of movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. He adds, “Pixar sequels are in a league of their own.”

Valentina "Val" Ortiz, Lilimar Hernandez, Inside Out 2Hernandez voices the character of Valentina “Val” Ortiz in the film.

Her previous credits include Bella and the Bulldogs and Cleopatra in Space.

Anya Taylor-Joy’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” Towers Over Global Box Office Charts with $366 Million in Ticket Sales

Everything’s peachy for Anya Taylor-Joy

The Super Mario Bros. Movie, starring the 26-year-old Argentine American Golden Globe-winning actress, towered over box office charts with $377 million in global ticket sales, taking the title for the biggest worldwide debut of the year from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($225.3 million).

Anya Taylor-Joy, Princess Peach, Super Mario Bros MovieThe animated film — a collaboration between Illumination, Nintendo and Universal — crushed already-high expectations, igniting to $173 million internationally and $204 million in its first five days at the domestic box office.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie opened in 70 overseas territories, including Mexico ($27.4 million), the U.K. and Ireland ($19.6 million), Germany ($14 million), China ($12 million), France ($10.4 million), Spain ($8.6 million) and Australia ($8.3 million).

With those ticket sales, The Super Mario Bros. Movie landed several overseas records, including the best international debut of the year and second-biggest animated opening of all time (behind Frozen 2 with $228.2 million). It also scored the biggest animated opening in 11 individual markets, as well as the best start for a video game adaptation in 42 individual markets.

“It’s a phenomenal number all around,” says Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, president of distribution for Universal Pictures International. “The film is based on incredible IP, which is beloved by people of different generations– young and old. This is great news for the industry.”

In addition to brand recognition and nostalgia for the popular video game, the film benefitted from positive word-of-mouth, premium theatrical formats and a months-long lack of movies targeted at family audiences.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie particularly delivered in Imax, bringing in $5 million overseas and $21.6 million globally. Those ticket sales rank as the highest animated debut ever for the company in 22 markets, including Ireland and the UK, Germany, Sweden and Netherlands.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie features the voices of Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach and Jack Black as Bowser.

Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, the story follows the mustachioed plumber and friends as they prepare to stop the all-powerful King Koopa from world domination.

Gisela Performs “Into the Unknown” Alongside Idina Menzel & Other Global “Elsas” at the Oscars

Giselahas leapt into the unknown

The 41-year-old Spanish pop singer and dub actress took the Academy Awards stage alongside Idina Menzel on Sunday night to perform the Oscar-nominated original song from Frozen 2, “Into the Unkown.”

Into the Unknown at Oscars

Menzel, the voice of Elsa in Frozen 2and the original Disney’s animated film Frozen, kicked off the performance with Norwegian singer Aurora. Moments later, Menzel was joined by nine of the other international Elsas, including Gisela.

In addition to Gisela, who portrays Elsa in Castilian Spanish and Catalan, the other Elsas included Carmen Garcia Saenz (Latin America), Maria Lucia Heiberg Rosenberg(Denmark), Willemijn Verkaik(Germany), Takako Matsu(Japan), Lisa Stokke(Norway), Kasia Laska(Poland), Anna Buturlina(Russia) and Gam Wichayanee(Thailand).

All of the women sang in their native languages, but came together as one powerful, unified chorus for the song’s big finish.

Sergio Pablos’ “Klaus” Sweeps This Year’s Annie Awards

It’s a clean sweep for Sergio Pablos’ acclaimed animated film… 

The Spanish animator and screenwriter’s Netflix holiday tale Klaus picked up seven trophies at the 47th annual Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature.

Klaus

Pablos, who’d previously earned nods for his work on Treasure Planetand Rio, earned three awards. In addition to Best Animated Feature, he won the awards for Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production andDirecting in an Animated Feature Production.

Starring Jason SchwartzmanJ.K. Simmonsand Rashida JonesKlaus is the story of a selfish postman and a reclusive toymaker who form an unlikely friendship, delivering joy to a cold, dark town that desperately needs it. 

The Klaus wipeout throws the Academy Awards racefor a loop, as Netflix’s first original animated feature won all seven categories for which it was nominated. 

Pablos’ film dominated over the Big 3 studio mega-grossing sequels — Disney’s Frozen 2DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 4.

Here’s a look at this year’s Annie Awards winners: 

Best Animated Feature: Klaus
Best Animated Feature-Independent: I Lost My Body
Best Animated Special Production: How to Train Your Dragon Homecoming
Best Animated Short Subject: Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days
Best Virtual Reality Production: Bonfire
Best Animated Television/Media Commercial: The Mystical Journey of Jimmy Page’s ‘59 Telecaster
Best Animated Television/Media Production For Preschool Children: Ask The Storybots
Episode: Why Do We Have To Recycle?
Best Animated Television/Media Production For Children: Disney Mickey Mouse
Episode: Carried Away
Best General Audience Animated Television/Media Production: BoJack Horseman
Episode: The New Client
Best Student Film: The Fox & The Pigeon
Michelle Chua, Sheridan College
Animated Effects in an Animated Television/Media Production: Love, Death & Robots
Episode: The Secret War
Animated Effects in an Animated Feature Production: Frozen 2
Character Animation in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production: His Dark Materials
Aulo Licinio (Character: lorek)
Character Animation In An Animated Feature Production: Klaus
Sergio Martins (Character: Alva)
Character Animation in a Live Action Production: Avengers: Endgame
Character Animation in a Video Game: Unruly Heroes
Character Design in an Animated Television/Media Production: Carmen Sandiego
Keiko Murayama
Episode: The Chasing Paper Caper
Character Design in an Animated Feature Production: Klaus
Torsten Schrank
Directing in an Animated Television/Media Production: Disney Mickey Mouse
Alonso Ramirez Ramos
Episode: For Whom the Booth Tolls
Directing in an Animated Feature Production: Klaus
Sergio Pablos
Music in an Animated Television/Media Production: Love, Death & Robots
Rob Cairns
Episode: Sonnie’s Edge
Music in an Animated Feature Production:I Lost My Body
Dan Levy
Production Design in an Animated Television/Media Production:Love, Death & Robots
Alberto Mielgo
Episode: The Witness
Production Design In An Animated Feature Production: Klaus
Szymon Biernacki, Marcin Jakubowski
Storyboarding in an Animated Television/Media Production:Carmen Sandiego
Kenny Park
Episode: Becoming Carmen Sandiego, Part 1
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production:Klaus
Sergio Pablos
Voice Acting in an Animated Television/Media Production: Bob’s Burgers
H. Jon Benjamin (Character: Bob)
Episode: Roamin’ Bob-iday
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production: Frozen 2
Josh Gad (Character: Olaf)
Writing in an Animated Television/Media Production:Tuca & Bertie
Shauna McGarry
Episode: The Jelly Lakes
Writing in an Animated Feature Production: I Lost My Body
Jérémy Clapin, Guillaume Laurant
Editorial in an Animated Television/Media Production: Love, Death & Robots
Bo Juhl, Stacy Auckland, Valerian Zamel
Episode: Alternate Histories
Editorial in an Animated Feature Production: Klaus
Pablo García Revert