‘Inside Out 2’ has huge second weekend with $100 million in North America

This image released by Disney/Pixar shows Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, left, and Anxiety, voiced by Maya Hawke, in a scene from “Inside Out 2.” (Disney/Pixar via AP)

LOS ANGELES – “Inside Out 2” grossed an eye-popping $100 million in its second weekend in North American theaters, setting the Pixar sequel on a course to become one of the biggest-grossing movies in history, according to industry estimates released Sunday.

The Pixar Animation Studios film — which brings audiences back into the mind of Riley as she deals with a host of new emotions as a teenager — is now the highest-grossing film of the year domestically, and it only took 8 days.

The film also crossed $500 million at the worldwide box office on Friday.

The movie had previously generated about $155 million in US and Canadian ticket sales over its first weekend, according to estimates.

Only “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($149 million), “Avengers: Endgame” ($147 million), “Avengers: Infinity War” ($114 million), “Black Panther” ($111 million), “Jurassic World” ($106 million) and “The Avengers” ($103 million) have made more money in their second weekends.

“Bad Boys: Ride or Die” remained in second place with $18.7 million in its third weekend in theaters, Comscore reported.

“The Bikeriders” opened in third place with $10 million Friday through Sunday. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” tied for fourth with $3.6 million in its seventh weekend, along with “The Garfield Movie,” which also took in $3.6 million in its fifth week.

Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases, as estimated by Comscore, were “IF” ($2.7 million), “The Exorcism” ($2.4 million) “Thelma” ($2.2 million), “The Watchers” ($1.9 million) and “Ghost: Rite Here Rite Now” ($1.5 million).

Inside Out 2 was also a hit with critics. The film is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with critics praising the film’s visuals, cast, and clever storytelling. It also received an “A” CinemaScore and a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 96 percent.

Pete Docter – Chief Creative Officer of Pixar and director of 2015’s Inside Out — has said that the first film has “continued to be part of the conversation” since it opened nearly a decade ago, which led to the creation of the sequel.

“We hear from people saying, ‘This movie changed the way I think about parenting,’ or ‘The way I understand my own existence’ and like, whoa, that’s pretty heavy for a cartoon — Maybe there’s more to be done with this world?” he added. (With CNS report)