Good things come to those who wait. It took 14 years for Brad Bird and Pixar to make a sequel to the 2004 hit,The Incredibles, and time has only made this sequel even more attractive. Incredibles 2 already had a record-breaking Thursday night preview and a very solid Friday opening, so people expected the sequel to finish out the weekend strong. Yet, now we know the sequel is shooting for the stars and is poised to become the biggest opening for an animated feature ever with a projected $180 million total by the end of the weekend.
Box Office Mojo has the numbers and it reports that Incredibles 2 had an estimated $71.5 million on Friday (that includes $18.5 million from Thursday). That alone is the 14th biggest opening of all time. Right now, the sequel is projected to earn somewhere in the range of $170-$180 million, which would make it the highest opening ever for an animated feature. The last record holder was Pixar's other successful sequel, Finding Dory, but Incredibles 2 could easily fly past that movie's $135 million opening.
If Incredibles 2 does take home $180 million, that will put it in the top 10 best opening weekends of any movie. Should it earn that much, it would stand above hits like Captain America: Civil War, Beauty and the Beast, Iron Man 3, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Not only that, but the sequel would easily take the third best opening of 2018, right behind Avengers: Infinity War, which opened to a record $257.7 million, and Black Panther, which debuted to $202 million. You may notice that all three of these films are Disney-created superhero movies. It's worth noting the studio had already passed the $1 billion mark domestically for the year before Incredible 2 was even in theaters.
Comparatively, the original Incredibles earned $70.5 million in November 2004 and $633 million globally. As to why the sequel is doing so well, there could be a few reasons. Nostalgia is obviously a big factor, as it's been 14 years since the original and the sequel was one of Pixar's most demanded by fans. Superhero movies are also a lot more popular than they were 14 years ago, so that likely plays a factor. Incredibles 2 also came out during Father's Day weekend and is a family-friendly animated feature. Finally, it's just a really good movie. I personally don't think it's better than the original, but when you're comparing two slices of pizza, the differences are marginal.
If you haven't seen it yet, go check out Incredibles 2, which is in theaters right now. For everything else heading to theaters soon, make sure to check out our 2018 movie guide for all the big summer hits.
