‘Dory’ finds her way to box-office record, with biggest opening weekend for any animated film

The prescription for an ailing US box office came this weekend in the form of the forgetful blue fish of Disney-Pixar’s Finding Dory.

Pulling in an estimated US$136.2 million in the US and Canada, the picture became the highest-debuting animated film of all time, boosting a sluggish summer moviegoing season.

“These Pixar folk are just so consistent more than anything … focusing on quality and great storytelling,” said Dave Hollis, Disney’s distribution chief. “They did it this time again, telling an extraordinary story that lives up to and exceeds expectations.”

The long-awaited sequel to 2003’s Finding Nemo had been expected to gross as much as US$120 million in ticket sales heading into the weekend, according to analysts. The studio itself projected a more modest US$100 million. But the film’s stellar debut makes it the top animated film opening weekend ever — a title previously held by 2007’s Shrek the Third, from Paramount, which took in US$121.6 million in its debut. Dory also has the title of second-best June opening for all releases (behind last year’s US$208.7 million from Universal’s Jurassic World) and the best Pixar debut, beating the US$110.3 million of Toy Story 3 in 2010.

Such a powerful opening is welcomed news for cinemas suffering from a lacklustre summer so far, with movies such as Universal’s Warcraft and Neighbors 2 faltering domestically. Prior to this weekend, summer ticket sales were down 22 percent industrywide compared with the same time a year ago.

Released 13 years ago, “Nemo” was a massive hit. The computer-animated movie opened to US$70 million and ended its original domestic run with US$339 million. Including international box office and a 2012 re-release, the film’s worldwide box office total stands at $937 million.