On opening night, “Inside Out 2” grabbed an A CinemaScore from audiences, reflecing the film’s excellent word-of-mouth. Audiences surveyed by the service PostTrak, meanwhile, gave the project an encouraging average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. This came hot on the heels of solid reviews from professional critics, indicating to audiences that this project wasn’t a case of “Cars 2” all over again.
“Inside Out 2” rode a wave of positivity that doesn’t always occur for sequels. Sometimes, these titles garner massive initial box office but don’t get outstanding word-of-mouth. Just look at 2023’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” It had a tremendous opening weekend but fell off a cliff afterward thanks to dismal audience reception. A familiar brand name on the poster of your movie can only get you so far.
“Inside Out 2” didn’t have the same problems that sequels like “Quantumania” had. Just look at how well it held day-to-day over opening weekend: After an opening day of $49 million (removing $13 million in Thursday night screenings), “Inside Out 2” increased from that outsized opening day by roughly 4%. No sudden wave of poor audience reception caused box office numbers to crash after just one day. Instead, satisfied moviegoers kept on coming out throughout the weekend. The “Inside Out” brand sparked audience interest in “Inside Out 2,” but positive buzz surrounding the sequel’s artistic merits gave the movie strong legs across its opening weekend.
