Juneteenth Box Office: ‘Inside Out 2’ Scores Record $30M Wednesday

‘Inside Out 2’

Disney/Pixar

Pixar’s Inside Out 2 continues to sizzle at the box office, where it earned a record $30 million Wednesday. It is also the highest gross for Juneteenth since the date became recognized as a federal holiday in 2021.

Excluding movies opening midweek, the film scored the biggest Wednesday gross of all time for an animated movie, and — just as impressive — the third-biggest of any film only behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($38 million) and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ($32.2 milllion).

And when including movies opening on a Wednesday, Inside Out 2 rests at No. 12 on the list of top Wednesday earners, not adjusted for inflation.

The animated tentpole has now earned $235.4 million domestically and a huge $203.3 million overseas for a global total of $438.7 million through Wednesday.

Inside Out 2 — which also did record-breaking business Monday and Tuesday following a huge opening — is being fueled by powerful word of mouth after earning glowing reviews, an A CinemaScore and a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 96 percent, a Pixar best.

Directed by Kelsey Mann, the sequel introduces a whole new cast of emotions who are brought into “head”-quarters when the story’s young heroine, Riley, becomes a teenager. Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust aren’t so sure how to feel about the arrival of Anxiety, Envy, Ennui and Embarrassment. Amy Poehler leads the voice cast that also includes Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman, Liza Lapira, Tony Hale, Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Ayo Edebiri, Lilimar, Grace Lu, Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Paul Walter Hauser and Yvette Nicole Brown.

Last year, Juneteenth fell on a Monday when The Flash topped the domestic box office with $6.2 million. The previous year, when the holiday fell on a Sunday, Jurassic World: Dominion earned $21.1 million.