The verdict is out. Toy Story 4 is generally beloved by both critics and fans alike. As it stands on Rotten Tomatoes, the fourth instalment of the Toy Story franchise has a whopping 98% critics score (with an average rating of 8.30/10) and a 95% fans score. I too found the film to be absolutely brilliant. It’s arguably the best the franchise has to offer; definitely the most profound. But do these rave reviews translate to a healthy box office?
The answer is a big yes, at least on a global scale. Raking in approximately $US 238 million at the global box office in its first weekend of release, Toy Story 4 is officially the highest grossing opening weekend of all time for an animated film. It beat the previous record holder Incredibles 2 ($US 235 million) by a whisker. Coming in at 3rd place is Fox’s Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs with $US 218 million. Toy Story 3 grossed $US 145.3 million opening weekend.
*Because the original Toy Story and Toy Story 2 came out in the mid and late 90s, there isn’t much detailed information available concerning their worldwide opening weekends.
However, things aren’t as bright and sunny if we look at the North American box office alone. There, Toy Story 4 is the fourth biggest animated opening weekend ($US 118 million), losing out to Incredibles 2 ($US 183 million), Finding Dory ($US 135 million) and Shrek the Third ($US 122 million). It looks like folks in the US and Canada, folks weren’t really clamouring for a Toy Story sequel.
Or perhaps it’s just the overstuffed summer period these days that can be taxing to an average moviegoer. From Avengers: Endgame to Aladdin, Dark Phoenix, Godzilla and many, many more, we’re bombarded with so-called “must-see event movies” week after week after week. And considering that Spider-Man: Far From Home will be swinging into cinemas in about a week, I guess a lot of people figured they’d rather spend their dollar on that instead. Having said that, $US 118 million in North America and $238 million globally is nothing to scoff at.
Toy Story 4 is currently screening in Malaysian cinemas.
