‘Finding Dory’ Finds the Bank

19 Jun, 2016

Family audiences turned out in droves over the weekend, propelling “Finding Dory” to a massive $136.2 million debut and establishing a new record for an animated film opening.

The sequel to 2003’s “Finding Nemo” was bolstered by strong reviews and residual affection for the Oscar-winning first film. It’s a return to form for Pixar after the animation studio behind “Toy Story” and “The Incredibles” suffered its first box office failure last year with “The Good Dinosaur.” But its decades of excellence continue to be the brand’s major selling points.

“Finding Dory” centers on a blue tang fish with short term memory loss (Ellen DeGeneres) and her quest to be reunited with her long-lost parents.

Its opening weekend results sailed past the previous high-water mark for an animated film — “Shrek the Third’s” $121.6 million launch in 2007 — and ranks as the second-best June debut, behind “Jurassic World’s” $208.8 million bow. Overseas, “Finding Dory” added another $50 million to its haul from 29 international markets, including Australia, Argentina, Russia and China, where its $17.5 million debut ranks as the biggest ever for a Pixar release.

The success of “Finding Dory” comes as Disney, Pixar’s parent company, has dominated the movie business, fielding the year’s three highest-grossing pictures globally in “Zootopia,” “The Jungle Book” and “Captain America: Civil War.”

“Finding Dory” seems destined to join those films among 2016’s top earners, partly because it is appealing to all age groups.

Reuters

Image Finding Dory Twitter

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