Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, Deadline, and other sources:Overcoming the distinction of being the first negatively reviewed Pixar film ever, "Cars 2" roared past the field and collected an impressive $66.1 million, besting the start of "Cars" in 2006 when strictly counting dollars. Attendance was down comparatively however with more than 40% of ticket sales for "Cars 2" coming off its 3-D exhibitions.
In the Pixar family of films, "Cars 2" looks impressive when compared to other openings from the studio. "Cars 2" represents the 4th largest June opening of all time and the 5th largest Pixar opening of all time, trailing behind "Toy Story 3" (2010, $110.3 million), "The Incredibles" (2004, $70.5 million), "Finding Nemo" (2003, $70.3 million), and "Up" (2009, $68.1 million).
And with all the negative reviews levied upon the film, "Cars 2" represents the always prevalent disconnect between critics and audiences. By the time of this writing, "Cars 2" had watched its Tomatometer drain down to 33% (?!) but CinemaScore polling of opening weekend audiences found the film score an A-. Additionally, the start for "Cars 2" also secured Pixar their 12th consecutive #1 wide opening (both "A Bug's Life" and "Toy Story 2" opened on one screen initially, only to move to #1 with its wide release the following weekends).
With so much of the news good for "Cars 2", Pixar and Disney seem unconcerned with the negative response the film received prior to its opening. Nikki Finke at Deadline reports one unnamed Disney source as stating, "Critics not liking a movie doesn't seem like it will hurt the Pixar brand in my opinion. It will be their 12th #1 film in a row and will rank near the top for opening weekends." And they were right.
One unexpected benefit from seeing "Cars 2" in theaters is having the chance to catch "Toy Story: Hawaiian Vacation", a new animated short film which tore the house down at my screening and looks to be a player for the Best Animated Short Film Oscar, if it is submitted for consideration. Additionally, Pixar made the curious decision to launch promotional efforts for next summer's "Brave", a action/adventure epic featuring a female lead voiced by Kelly McDonald.
The debut of the teaser is not noteworthy per se, with studios piggybacking their next big project on the backs of their latest releases all the time. This, however, seemed different. Pixar did not just deliver a teaser, but they always sent out stills and production notes and other marketing gimmicks, almost as if to try and deflect attentions away from the increasingly lukewarm and bad PR for "Cars 2".
For what it's worth, "Brave" became the hot topic amongst those both in and out of the movie industry and the film, initially, looks fantastic.
Cameron Diaz hits a couple of milestones you may not be aware of, the now-weekly Allen/Malick analysis, and a flood of indie documentaries and dramas look to make their mark. All of this and the Top 40 after the cut!
