Disney-Pixar's "Finding Dory" stirs the summer box office with a whooping $55 million plus for its opening day, the highest earning ever for an animated film. The opening day of "Minions" was $46 million, while "Shrek the Third" had $47 million.
"Finding Dory" is Pixar's widest release at 4,305 theaters on June 17, Friday. It received a CinemaScore of A, and has become Pixar's 11th with such grade. "Inside Out" also earned a similar score and yielded $90.4 million on its opening and $356.5 million final.
The predominant crowd of "Finding Nemo" sequel are 65 percent females and 56 percent under 25, not far from "Inside Out" which had 63 percent female and 59 percent under 25, Deadline reported. About 56 percent of the crowd came for Dory because they were fans of the first movie and it took them 13 years to wait for the sequel. Another thing that gives the film a shot is the Father's Day weekend, a prime moviegoing day.
The "Dory" film was announced in July 2012, while its title was made known in April 2013. Disney teased its at a session in Cannes Film Festival in 2015.
Trailers of the film exclusively introduced online and on-air on the show of Ellen DeGeneres, who plays Dory. They also appeared in Disney's grossing films "The Jungle Book" and "Zootopia." The films' teaser trailer in November has over 67 million views in three days, and is most socially discussed in the studio history of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation.
The official Facebook account of Dory has 25 million likes, the most liked Disney individual character. DeGeneres devoted hours of her show to discuss the film, its cast and filmmakers. Sia who sings the film's "Unforgettable" performed on her show and there was also a ticket giveaway.
The Oscar-winning best animated feature in 2003, "Finding Nemo" which tells the story of a fish separated from his father, grossed $70 million on its opening weekend and $936.7 million worldwide. "Finding Dory" is about Dory, a blue tang who suffers short-term memory loss and explores the ocean to look for her lost parents.
The "Dory" movie reunites Director Andrew Stanton, DeGeneres and Albert Brooks, who voiced Dory's friend, Marlin. It is the directorial debut of Stanton's co-director Angus MacLane.
"Finding Dory" has a 95 percent "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As there was no budget for the movie from Disney, Pixar carried the $175 to $200 million price tag, according to Variety.
Watch the trailer of Dory's movie below: