‘Toy Story 4’ Underperforms During Opening Weekend
While Toy Story 4 dropping in theaters this week only fueled the continued Disney domination, the movie didn’t do as well as box office prognosticators believed it should have.
Variety notes that while the latest addition to Toy Story has been met with nothing but glowing reviews, many speculate the film underperformed at the box office because some fans were unable to overcome their hesitation to go see the film. The hesitation stemmed from the belief that Toy Story 3 did such a fantastic job of wrapping up the story that viewers were not really sure a fourth installment was necessary, nor would it make sense.
Despite not meeting the expected numbers, the Disney film still dominated and topped the box office charts as it collected $118 million in ticket sales as it made its debut at 4,575 theaters across North America. The reason box office prognosticators claim the movie underperformed is that it had an anticipated opening weekend of $140 million.
Box office experts, however, believe the glowing reviews and word of mouth will keep Toy Story 4 in theaters all summer long as families find time during their summer breaks to catch a showing.
According to Variety, the latest Toy Story installment still managed to shatter records despite underperforming. The film landed in fourth place as the biggest animated movie launch falling behind Incredibles 2 ($182 million), Finding Dory ($135 million), and Shrek the Third ($121 million).
'Toy Story 4' Opens Big But Below Expectations With $118M https://t.co/QgVx49ZeCT
— CBS Philadelphia (@CBSPhiladelphia) June 23, 2019
Toy Story 4 is also notably only the third movie to launch this year that was able to break the $100 million threshold in ticket sales during opening weekend. Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, which were also Disney releases, are the only other two movies to have accomplished surpassing that $100 million mark.
The Disney animation also dominated overseas as it picked up an additional $120 million in ticket sales across 37 different international territories. This brings the global total for the film’s opening weekend to $238 million.
Directed by Josh Cooley, those who have seen the previous three installments will appreciate some familiar voice actors as the film reunites Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), and Bo Peep (Annie Potts). Joining the voice cast for Toy Story 4 is Tony Hale who plays the role of Forky the spork. Keanu Reeves also joined the voice cast as Duke Caboom.
Keanu Reeves seriously loves his #ToyStory4 character, Duke Caboom https://t.co/RZ77kVrvcp
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) June 23, 2019
Cathleen Taff, Disney’s president of global distribution, confirmed the executives at Magic Kingdom are thrilled at how well Toy Story 4 did during opening weekend.
While the opening weekend is coming to a close, Toy Story 4 is currently showing at theaters all across the globe for those who missed on seeing it this weekend.
