Pixar Animation’s “Inside Out” is headed for a box-office opening of around $60 million when it debuts on June 19 for Disney, according to preliminary tracking that came online Thursday.
“Jurassic World” looks like more of a monster than initially thought, based on the new numbers, which also suggest that “Dope,” an urban comedy acquired at the Sundance Film Festival by Open Road, is poised for a solid start.
“Inside Out” is set in the mind of a young girl where five emotions — Joy, Anger, Disgust, Fear and Sadness — battle it out. The buzz has been very strong in the wake of well-received presentation at the Cannes Film Festival last week and last month’s CinemCon gathering of theater owners.
Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Mindy Kahling, Phyllis Smith and Lewis Black have lent their voices to “Inside Out,” which is directed by Pete Docter and Ronaldo del Carmen.
“Inside Out” will be the first Pixar movie to hit the market in two years because “The Good Dinosaur,” which had been scheduled for May last year, was pushed to November of this year.
The latest pre-release data has the June 12 release “Jurassic World” debuting as high as $110 million, a very strong number for a sequel based on a 22-year-old original. Significantly, Universal’s marketing team is building momentum for the film, which was tracking at around $100 million just one week ago.
“Jurassic Park,” the Steven Spielberg-produced 1993 action-adventure film that spawned this sequel, was one of the first global blockbusters. It crossed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office in 2013, thanks to a 3D-fueled re-release that brought in $65 million.
Chris Pratt (“Guardians of the Galaxy”) stars alongside Bryce Dallas Howard, Jake Johnson and Vince D’Onofrio.
It’s directed by Colin Trevorrow and produced by Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley and executive produced by Spielberg. Legendary helped fund the action-adventure film, which has a production budget around $150 million.
Writer-director Rick Famuyiwa’s urban comedy “Dope” was one of the hottest titles at Sundance earlier this year. It set off a bidding war, with domestic rights going to Open Road and foreign to Sony for around $7 million.
Open Road would love to get into double digits with the film, which stars newcomer Shameik Moore stars as a young man tasked with juggling his academic pursuits while also trying to survive in a tough Los Angeles neighborhood.
The indie distributor sees long-playing potential in the June 19 release, which would be a rarity for a Sundance acquisitions. Two that defied the odds were 1999’s “The Blair Witch Project,” which opened wide with $29 million on its way to $140.5 million, and 2006’s “Little Miss Sunshine,” which debuted to $5.6 million but ultimately tallied $60 million domestically.
Zoë Kravitz, A$AP Rocky, Tyga, Keith Stanfield, Chanel Iman, Quincy and Rick Fox co-star in the film. Forest Whitaker produced, Pharrell Williams executive produced and Sean Combs co-executive produced.