Frozen 2 debuts with the biggest opening weekend for an animated film outside of summer

Some things never change — like Disney's box office domination.

Frozen 2 took in a massive $127 million at the domestic box office this weekend, per The Hollywood Reporter, the biggest opening ever for an animated movie released outside of the summer. It's also the third-largest debut for any animated movie in North America after Incredibles 2 and Finding Dory, although if Disney's 2019 remake of The Lion King is counted as an animated film, Frozen 2 would come in fourth.

This comes near the tail end of a brutal month for sequels and reboots at the box office, with Terminator: Dark Fate, Doctor Sleep, and Charlie’s Angels all bombing during three consecutive weekends. Frozen 2, though, had no problem exceeding expectations and should continue to dominate over the busy Thanksgiving weekend.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

The animated sequel isn't getting any more of an icy reception overseas, either, as it has already racked up $350 million worldwide with the biggest global opening for an animated movie, CNN notes. Frozen 2 is all but certain to be Disney's sixth movie this year to gross more than $1 billion worldwide after Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, Captain Marvel, Toy Story 4, and Aladdin. The studio should finish 2019 with seven billion-dollar films total considering Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will almost certainly gross at least that much.

Prior to 2019, the most billion-dollar movies released by one studio in a single year was four. That studio? Yes, you guessed it: Disney.