‘Inside Out 2’ Breaks $1 Billion Barrier, Marking an Animated Film Milestone

Everett Collection

“Inside Out 2” has surpassed $1 billion at the international box office, one of 12 releases — and the only animated film — to ever cross that coveted milestone.

Though 55 films have grossed $1 billion globally (which is comprised of domestic and international ticket sales), just a dozen have managed to hit that benchmark from overseas markets alone. And, 11 of those movies were live-action. While Disney’s 2019 “The Lion King” earned a staggering $1.1 billion internationally, the studio has categorized the remake as live-action rather than computer generated, so “Inside Out 2” is technically the first animated release to join the coveted club.

Getting to $1 billion means “Inside Out2” has resonated pretty much everywhere, but the top foreign markets include Mexico ($102.2 million), Brazil ($80 million), the United Kingdom ($72.7 million) France ($62.6 million) and Korea ($60.8 million).

Disney’s Pixar sequel is already the highest-grossing movie of the year with $1.002 billion overseas and $646.3 million domestically, bringing the grand total to $1.649 billion globally. Weeks ago, “Inside Out 2” overtook “Frozen II” as the highest-grossing animated film in history.

Disney has enjoyed a strong summer with two billion-dollar releases, the other being the Marvel superhero sequel “Deadpool & Wolverine.” To give a sense of the box office prowess of “Inside Out 2” among international audiences, “Deadpool & Wolverine” has generated a little more than half of that — a mighty $634.1 million — among the same set of markets. Of course, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is rated R, which theoretically limits its audience to the 18 and up crowd.

With $1.21 billion worldwide to date, “Deadpool & Wolverine” now stands as the eighth-biggest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having passed “Captain America: Civil War” ($1.155 billion). It’s expected to soon overtake “Iron Man 3” ($1.215 billion) to claim the No. 7 spot.

Another Disney tentpole, “Alien: Romulus,” added $41.6 million internationally and $57.8 million globally over the weekend, boosting its worldwide haul to $225.4 million. The newest chapter in the decades-old sci-fi horror saga has been one of the rare post-pandemic Hollywood movies to resonate in China, where grosses have reached $73.3 million so far.

Elsewhere at the international box office, at least one new release failed to make a dent. Zoe Kravitz’s psychological thriller “Blink Twice” bombed with $6.7 million from 73 overseas territories. It also underwhelmed domestically with $7.2 million, bringing its global start to $14 million.

“Blink Twice,” which marks Kravitz’s directorial debut, reportedly carries a $20 million budget before reshoots. So, it’s somewhat decently positioned in its theatrical run. Channing Tatum, Kravitz’s fiancee, stars in the film as a tech billionaire who invites a cocktail waitress (Naomi Ackie) to his private island for a luxurious party where things begin to take a sinister turn. Amazon MGM is distributing the movie in the U.S. while Warner Bros. is handling the theatrical rollout in the rest of the world.