'Finding Dory' Sets New Record at the Box Office

"Finding Dory" had the best opening of any animated movie at the domestic box office ever this weekend by bringing in $136.2 million.

Image via Pixar

Maybe this is why Pixar made people wait so long for a sequel to the huge (if somewhat traumatic) hit, Finding Nemo. The next installment in the animated franchise, Finding Dory, set a box office record for animated films by bringing in $136.2 million in its first weekend of release in North America, The Hollywood Reporter writes.

The sequel, which came 13 years after Nemo, now holds the record for the largest domestic opening for an animated film ever. The previous record holder was Shrek the Third, which opened to $121.6 million in 2007. Third on the list now is Minions ($115.2 million), followed by Toy Story 3 ($110.3 million) and Shrek 2 ($108 million).  

It's not all that surprising, either. A Fandango survey from earlier this year put Dory as the second-most-anticipated film of 2016, behind only the release of Star Wars: Rogue One.

Dory opened to $186.1 million globally, which makes it the third-best opening of all time worldwide for animated movies. Zootopia is No. 1 on that list. It opened to $233.9 million earlier this year. 

In second place at the box office this weekend was Central Intelligence, starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, which brought in $34.5 million domestically. The Conjuring 2 was No. 3 with $15.6. million, followed by Now You See Me 2 ($9.7 million) and Warcraft ($6.5 million). 

Just in case you were wondering, Finding Dory does fit into the the timeline of that massive Pixar theory that places every film under the Pixar umbrella on a timeline in the same universe. We know, because we asked the guy who came up with it.

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