'Toy Story 4' hits a franchise high, falls short of ambitious expectations

Weekend Box Office June 21-23, 2019

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — We need to reconsider how we define success at the box office. We get so wrapped up in films breaking records that when they come up short the inclination is to say they were disappointments.

“Toy Story 4” earned $118 million, beating out the competition by over than $100 million. The problem is that many believed that “Toy Story 4” could open with more than $160 million this weekend. Some even suggested that it could surpass the $182 million that “Incredibles 2” made during its opening weekend last year. Disney was more conservative and expected the film to come in closer to $140 million. Seeing that the film didn’t even hit $120 million, there’s a sense of letdown.

However, keep in mind that $118 million is more than what “The Secret Life of Pets 2” has earned after 16 days and it’s the largest opening for any Toy Story film (if you adjust for inflation, the $110 opening total of 2010’s “Toy Story 3” would be $128 million) and “Aladdin,” which is considered a major success opened with $91 million and has continued to draw audiences.

Overseas “Toy Story 4” matched its domestic numbers and the worldwide total is $238 million. It isn’t the biggest animated film of all time. That’s okay.

The “Child’s Play” reboot finds itself in a distant second with $14 million. The film cost $10 million to make and will likely turn a profit next week even if it sees a substantial drop like most poorly-received horror films do.

“Aladdin” only fell 30% from last week with $12.2 million for a domestic total that is now $287 million. Worldwide the film has earned $810 million against a budget somewhere in the range of $180 -$200 million.

“Men in Black: International” added $10.7 million for a North American total of $52 million. That’s an amazing total for all the wrong reasons. At least international audiences have chipped in with $129 million for a global total of $182 million. If the film can scrape together another $50 million it might break even.

To none’s surprise, “The Secret Life of Pets 2” fell 58% from last week with $10 million for the weekend for a domestic total of $117 million. The first film was propelled by its fantastic international numbers. This sequel is trending behind North America with only $77 million. Worldwide the film has earned $194 million against an economical budget of $80 million. They’re making a profit, but the numbers will never get anywhere close to the $875 million that the first film made.

“Rocketman” rounds out the top five with $5.5 million for $77 million in North America after 24 days. Worldwide the film has now earned $153 million, a healthy profit from a film that cost $40 million to make. Those expecting the film to do as well as “Bohemian Rhapsody” might be disappointed, but everyone else should be pleased.

Next Wednesday sees the release of "Annabelle Comes Home," the latest installment in The Conjuring Universe.