The Pixar sequel has had the best opening of an animated film in Spain, but the data from the box office national are still worrying
It is crystal clear that 2024 is being a Annus horribilis for Spanish movie theaters. The box office has been in a comatose state not for weeks, but for months, finding some life occasionally with some specific releases that, last weekend, were marked by a ‘Inside Out 2’ that has not only released, apparently , to the box office of his lethargy; also has set a new national fundraising record.
Poisoned candy
The sequel to the celebrated Pixar title has become, with the 6.7 million euros harvested between Friday and Sundaythe highest-grossing animated film during its first weekend within Spanish borders, adding a total of 11.5 million if we count the box office made since its early release last Wednesday.
Unfortunately, all that glitters is not gold, and beyond the fact that the film that has momentarily revived the box office has been the umpteenth sequel created by a major studio, we find a detail that invites us to considerably moderate our optimism: The total raised during the last weekend was 7.93 million euros.
This means that The 19 feature films after ‘Del Reverso 2’ have had to settle for 1.27 million euros to distribute. Things are more devastating if we take into account that the second best positioned film has been ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ with 0.48 million, and that the third, fourth and fifth positions have been occupied by ‘The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’, ‘The Watchers’ and ‘Perfect Lives’ with 0.083, 0.073 and 0.071 million euros respectively. Terrible.
Is there life beyond the current blockbuster?
The situation invites us to ask many questions. Is there room left in our movie theaters for lower profile productions? Is the future of the big screen marked by media premieres, with the rest of the offering being relegated to streaming platforms? The outlook, of course, is not at all rosy, especially when we consider that to find another premiere in the top 10 of the weekend we have to descend to eighth position, which is occupied by Michel Franco’s ‘Memory’.
Be that as it may, the success of ‘Inside Out 2’ is as deserved as it is worthy of celebration. In just 12 days, Kelsey Mann’s film has dethroned ‘Dune 2’, becoming the highest-grossing film of the year with a total of 724 million dollars worldwide —as of June 24—; a figure that gains even more weight after verifying that the first ‘Inside Out’ closed its circuit in theaters with a total of 858.8 million.
The latest from Pixar is destined to join the select club of 1.5 billion dollars, which includes titles such as ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ or ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, and which crowns an ‘Avatar’ that remains unbeatable with some huge 2,906 million dollars. Unfortunately, this It is just a small flash of light at the end of a tunnel that, for the moment, seems too long and dark..
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