Disney-Pixar’s “Finding Dory” continues setting records, bringing in $55 million on Friday for the biggest single day at the box office for an animated movie.
It tops the previous record of $47 million held by DreamWorks’ “Shrek the Third” in 2007.
The sequel to “Finding Nemo,” playing on 4,305 screens, is also on pace to have the biggest opening weekend of all time for an animated film. “Finding Dory” is now expected to top $130 million, which is much more than the $121.6 million made by current record holder “Shrek the Third.”
“Dory” should also easily beat the opening of “Toy Story 3,” which earned $110 million in 2010, to break a Pixar record.
Meanwhile, New Line, Warner Bros. and Universal’s “Central Intelligence” made $13 million on Friday from 3,508 locations.
The Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart‘s action comedy made $1.84 million during the Thursday previews and is projected to earn an estimated $35 million for the weekend.
“Dory” shattered the animated box office record for Thursday night showings. The Disney-Pixar film brought in $9.2 million on Thursday, compared with the $6.2-million Thursday Universal’s “Minions” had in 2015, which previously held the record for the highest-grossing animated movie during Thursday previews.
“Dory” also crushed previous Pixar opening Thursday performances, including $4 million for “Toy Story 3” and $3.7 for “Inside Out.”
Heading into the weekend, “Dory” was Fandango’s top pre-selling animated movie of all time, beating previous record holder “Minions.” It also has an A CinemaScore, which reflects strong intent to watch among those surveyed.
The sequel comes 13 years after “Finding Nemo,” which opened to $70.2 million and has grossed $936.7 million worldwide since.
“Finding Dory” features the voices of Ellen DeGeneres, Ed O’Neill, Ty Burrell, Diane Keaton and Albert Brooks, and currently holds a “fresh” score of 95 percent on critic aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
“Central Intelligence” is about a man named Calvin (Hart) whose life didn’t turn out the way he had anticipated. Enter Bob Stone (Johnson), Calvin’s once-bullied high school classmate turned CIA agent. Bob enlists Calvin to help him on a top-secret mission, causing all sorts of ruckus.
The action-comedy now has a score of 67 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and an A- CinemaScore — indicating strong anticipation among surveyed moviegoers.
“Central Intelligence” cost roughly $50 million to produce.