Pixar's latest film, Brave, debuted at number one this weekend, earning $66.7 million. Though seemingly impressive, that total is just half-a-million dollars more than the opening haul for Pixar's critical bomb, Cars 2, last summer. Not only did Brave receive stronger reviews than Cars 2, it was pegged as culturally important, the first Pixar film to feature a female protagonist (the fiery-haired and strong-willed Princess Merida). Do those factors actually make the film's box office gross a disappointment?
Comparatively, it's not that impressive: Brave opened strong, and surpassed the $55 million tracking predictions, says Zac Gille at Alt Film Guide. But compared to Pixar's biggest recent hits, Brave, whose budget topped $185 million, pales in comparison. Its box office returns are far less than the opening weekends of Toy Story 3 ($110.3 million), Up (roughly $72 million in today's dollars), and Finding Nemo (about $92 million today). With merely passable reviews far below the Pixar standard, Brave can't be ruled an unqualified hit for the studio.
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