Ellen DeGeneres voices Dory in Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane’s “Finding Dory.” (Photo : YouTube/TheEllenShow)
Walt Disney's "Finding Dory" has passed the $300 million mark at the domestic box office, beating "Shrek 2" and "Toy Story 3" in the ticket sales race.
Latest figures from ComingSoon.net revealed that the Pixar sequel has scooped up a total of $311.2 million as of June 29, Thursday.
The film managed to achieve this feat within 12 days, surpassing the 18-day record of "Shrek 2" and "Toy Story 3."
"Finding Dory" is also the fourth Walt Disney movie this year to have crossed the $300 million mark, and the film studio's 18th overall.
According to film reviewer Scott Mendelson at Forbes, the animated film joins "The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" in the "12 days to $300m club." Much of the success was due to its Tuesday showing, where the animated film pocketed $14.7 million.
"That $14.7m Tuesday is 15th biggest non-opening Tuesday ever," Mendelson noted. "Most impressively, among 'not opening weekend and not first week' Tuesday grosses, it is behind only 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' ($29.5m) and 'Avatar' ($18.2m)."
The sequel has earned $433 million worldwide.
In China, "Finding Dory" debuted in theaters with $17.5 million, putting it in a good position to compete against "Warcraft."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Finding Dory's" first-day performance is "Pixar's best bow ever in China."
The movie focuses on the amnesiac Dory, who was introduced in the 2003 box-office hit "Finding Nemo." Dory sets off to reunite with her parents but gets captured along the way, only to find herself at a public aquarium in California.
Ellen DeGeneres, Hayden Rolence, Kaitlin Olson, Albert Brooks, Michael Sheen and Diane Keaton lent their voices to the movie.
"Finding Dory" premiered in Los Angeles last June 8 and was released in the U.S. on June 17.
The movie's predecessor grossed $556 million internationally when it was shown in 2003.
