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Disney and Pixar’sInside Out 2has got cinemagoers right in the feels! The sequel to the 2015 original movie, the second installment takes audiences back to the mind of Riley Anderson (Kensington Tallman), now a spunky 13-year-old ready to take her new middle school by storm. Teetering on the edge of puberty, Riley’s emotional headquarters faces a full-blown riot asher trusty childhood emotions- Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapira) - receive unwanted visitors.
These new, unruly feelings - Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) - stir up a storm in headquarters, and it’s not looking too good for Riley. As Anxiety tries to micromanage every moment of Riley’s life, the teenager’s once-sunny personality is overshadowed by the pressure to fit in with the cool crowd. With the original emotions all bottled up, the crew must find a way to escape and bring harmony back to Riley’s mind, before Riley suffers the emotional mayhem of growing up.
Together with movies likeBad Boys: Ride or Die,A Quiet Place: Day One,Despicable Me 4, andTwisters,Inside Out 2has played a major part in reinvigorating the summer box office. Based on the movie’s impressive legs week-to-week, there’s no denying thatthe sequel is an even bigger smash hit than the first installment. Check out the budget breakdown forInside Out 2.
Editor’s Note: This piece was updated on August 03, 2025.
Inside Out 2
Inside Out 2 follows the emotional journey of a now-teenage Riley as she encounters new challenges and emotions. As her mind expands, so does the complexity of her inner world, where new emotions must collaborate with old ones to guide her through adolescence, creating dynamic and heartfelt experiences.
Budget for ‘Inside Out 2’ by Department
The estimated budget forInside Out 2is $200 million, twice the budget of the first movie. Check out how some of the costs are distributed across the production.
With a net worth of $25 million, Poehler’s voice has brought Joy to life in theInside Outfranchise.According to the Guardian, Poehler was paida $5 million salary for the sequel, which also includes creative consultancy on her part. This reported amount contrasts with the rest of the main cast, who were offered only$100,000 without bonuses. Before the sequel,Mindy KalingandBill Hader, who were the original voices for Disgust and Fear respectively, were onlyoffered 2 percent of the total amount Poehler was receiving, which led to salary disputes and their eventual recast.
Produced by none other than Pixar Animation Studios, it’s become no secret that the company takes big budgets to make their films, with no guarantee that the movie might be a success or not.In an interview with Varietyabout the release ofElemental, President of PixarJim Morrisshares that one of the reasons why Pixar movies are expensive is because they do all the animation films in the U.S., with all of their artists under one roof. One possible way to make these films on a lower budget is by working offshore. Although there is no information regarding the specific amount needed to work on the film’s animation, considering that their work is mainly done in America, it’s not cheap.
The Costs of Promoting ‘Inside Out 2’
Inside Out 2has pulled all the stops for its marketing campaign, from advertising on one of the world’s most-viewed sports events to branching out to different lifestyle brands. During the Super Bowl LVIII, a 30-second clip from the film was aired to the public. Fittingly titled “Team”, the brief clip shows Riley getting some hockey action on the ice rink, matching the competitive sporty vibes of the Super Bowl.As reported by NPR, “a 30-second spot to air during the 2024 Super Bowl costs $7 million”. This high cost stems from the fact that almost everyone in America is tuning in to the yearly football event. With the viewers’ undivided attention on the screen,Inside Out 2managed to gain a lot of traction from the public.
Reaching out to the lifestyle sector,Inside Out 2has also worked together with the mega-brand Samsung. As part of their partnership, the film collaborated with Samsung to promote the brand’s Bespoke AI Laundry Combo. In doing so, the brand featured the characters fromInside Out 2in their product clip, showing how doing your laundry with the Bespoke AI Laundry Combo can be fun like the film.
Also partnering with Airbnb,Inside Out 2invites the audience to stay in their rental home modeled after Riley’s “headquarters”, as if it was straight out of the movie. Located just right outside of Las Vegas, the colorful property listing is truly one-of-a-kind. With various rooms based on the different emotions in the film, not only does the unit transport fans to the mind of Riley, but it is also home to gorgeous panoramic views of Nevada. At the moment, booking for the property is only available from June 18 through June 22.
How Much Did ‘Inside Out 2’ Need To Make at the Box Office To Break Even?
Generally, for a film to be profitable, it needs to gross about two to two-and-a-half times its production budget. ForInside Out 2, which has a $200 million budget, that means it needed to earn at least $400 million to break even and more than that to be deemed a success.
The first film was already a major success and grossed $858.8 million worldwide against a $175 million budget, and the second movie has surpassed that number as you’ll see below.
How Is ‘Inside Out 2’ Doing at the Box Office?
Over a month after the movie’s opening,Inside Out 2is still making waves at the box office, kicking off with an impressive$13 million during preview screenings, hinting at a potential $100 million weekend. On opening day alone,it raked in a staggering $62 million, including the preview earnings, smashing records and setting Pixar and the domestic office up for a remarkable comeback.
The animated sequel continued to dazzle over its debut weekend, going beyond the $100 million projection, and insteadpulled in a whopping $154.2 million. Shattering expectations, InsideOut 2successfully revived the sluggish cinema market. As a comparison, the originalInside Outgarnered $90 million in its first weekend back in 2015.
The movie went on to have the seventh-biggest second weekend in the history of the domestic box office,making $101.2 million, surpassing the record made last year byBarbiewith $93 million. Not only that, but the movie only had a 34.4% drop from the first weekend to the second weekend, an even smaller second-weekend drop than the first movie, which dropped 42.1% in its second weekend. By that time,Inside Out 2had taken the crown fromDune: Part Twoasthe highest-grossing movie of 2024at both the domestic and global box office.
You can check out the table below to see the movie’s weekend numbers since its release.
Domestic Cume
June 14-16
$154.2 million
June 21-23
$101.21 million
$356.39 million
June 28-30
$57.52 million
$469.4 million
$30.31 million
$534.12 million
July 12-14
$19.96 million
$571.8 million
July 19-21
$12.82 million
$596.4 million
But the magic doesn’t stop in the U.S.Inside Out 2achieved a phenomenal$295 million at the international box office, marking it as one of the best international openers and the second-biggest animated opening ever in the U.S. This includesa hefty $140 million from 38 international markets. And with releases in France, Italy, and Japan, the global box office figures are poised to soar even higher.
As of now,Inside Out 2has alreadycrossed the $1.46 billion million mark globally, proving to be a smash summer hit and a profitable venture for Disney. It seems that the world can’t get enough of the beloved Pixar emotions.
How Does ‘Inside Out 2’ Compare to Other Animated Movies?
As of July 2024,Inside Out 2is not only Pixar’s highest-grossing movie of all time,but it has surpassedFrozen IIas the highest-grossing animated movie of all time, beating out the 2019 film’s haul of $1.45 billion. You can check out the table below to see the top 10 highest-grossing animated movies of all time at the global box office.
That being said, if we’re counting the 2019 remake ofThe Lion King(which was made using photorealistic animation), thenInside Out 2is still the second highest-grossing animated two, as the Jon Favreau-directed remake made $1.66 billion globally.
$1.46 billion
$1.45 billion
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
$1.36 billion
$1.28 billion
Incredibles 2
$1.24 billion
$1.15 billion
Toy Story 4
$1.07 billion
Toy Story 3
$1.06 billion
Despicable Me 3
$1.03 billion
Finding Dory
$1.02 billion
With only two movies on its belt, theInside Outfranchise has become the eighth-biggest animated franchise of all time,with the combined gross for the two movies being $2.3 billion. You can view the table below to see the other highest-grossing animated franchises.
Number of Films
Combined Total
Despicable Me**
$5.24 billion
$4.02 billion
Toy Story**
$3.27 billion
$3.21 billion
$2.7 billion
The Lion King*
$2.63 billion
Kung Fu Panda
$2.36 billion
Inside Out
$2.32 billion
Madagascar**
$2.26 billion
Finding Nemo
$1.96 billion
* = includes 2019 remake.
** = includes spin-offs
How Does ‘Inside Out 2’ Compare to Other Summer Movies?
Inside Out 2isn’t the only film aiming to dominate the box office this summer.Bad Boys: Ride or Dieis also vying for the top spot. After a slow start to the season, this action-packed sequel brought the heat during its opening weekend. Despite its modest $30 million projection, the film surprised everyone bypulling in $21 million on Friday alone, with $5.9 million of that from Thursday previews. Over its first three days,Bad Boy: Ride or Dieexceeded expectations with a $56 million domestic debut, and another $48 million from international markets, hitting a global total of $104 million.
On the flip side,The Watchers, the thriller directorial debut ofIshana Night Shyamalan, hasn’t been so lucky. Despite high hopes, the release stumbled out of the gate, earning an underwhelming $4.7 million from 7,170 screens across 65 international markets. Including its domestic opening,the total global weekend haul was a disappointing $11.7 million. For a film with a $30 million budget,The Watchershas had a rough start.
Inside Out 2has dwarfed the earnings of nearly every other summer movie this year, butDespicable Me 4isn’t too far behind. The movie made $122.6 million in its first five days of release and has made a total of $269.18 million domestically.
You can check out the table below to see the top 10 summer movies at the domestic box office as of the morning of July 25.
$600.9 million
Despicable Me 4
$269.1 million
Bad Boys: Ride or Die
$189.9 million
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
$170.7 million
A Quiet Place: Day One
$129.7 million
$111.1 million
$103 million
The Fall Guy
$92.9 million
The Garfield Movie
$91.7 million
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
$67.4 million
