Tom Hanks arrives for the European Premiere of Toy Story 4 at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square London ... [+]
Toy Story 4 is, if you can believe it, off to a rocking start: in its first 12 days in theaters, the fourth film of the Toy Story franchise has accrued $256.8 million at the U.S. box office.
\n\n\nMany predicted it would have the best animated opening weekend of all time\u2014although it fell short to Incredibles 2, Finding Dory and Shrek the Third. But still the question remained: will it top the movies in its own franchise?
\n\nThat would actually be quite the feat when we account for inflation and theater count. At the time of their releases, Toy Story and Toy Story 2 were the third-highest earning animated movies of all time, and Toy Story 3 claimed the #1 spot in 2010.
\n\n\nSo when we adjust those box office totals, how does Toy Story 4 stack up? Let's take a look.
\n\nThe Bare Numbers
\nWhen Toy Story became the third-highest grossing animated movie of all time, it only trailed Aladdin and The Lion King. On opening weekend, it made $29.1 million, and went on to make $191.8 million domestically and $373.6 million globally.
Four years later, Toy Story 2 brought in $57.4 million on opening weekend. Eventually the sequel would accrue $245.9 million during its U.S. run and $497.4 million in total.
\nThen in 2010, the third installment raked in $110.3 million on opening weekend to become the top-performing animated movie ever. By the end of its run, it had amassed $415 million domestically and $1.07 billion worldwide.
\nRanking the First 12 Days
\nSo far, in its first 12 days, Toy Story 4 has accrued $256.8 million. A massive amount, for sure\u2014but does that top the other Toy Story films?
\nThe Box Office Totals
\nHere's a quick breakdown of each movie's first 12 days in theaters:
\n\n\n- \n
- Toy Story: $64.7 million \n
- Toy Story 2: $116.8 million \n
- Toy Story 3: $244 million \n
- Toy Story 4: $256.8 million \n
Adjusting for Inflation
\nHere's where it gets interesting, as the rise in ticket prices manipulates each movie's true earnings. A ticket in 2019 costs 14% more than it did in 2010, 77% more than 1999 and 107% more than 1995.
\nWith that in mind, let's look at those 12-day totals again:
\n\n- \n
- Toy Story: $134 million \n
- Toy Story 2: $207.1 million \n
- Toy Story 3: $279 million \n
- Toy Story 4: $256.8 million \n
As you can see, Toy Story 3 holds onto its lead, and Toy Story 4 isn't necessarily blowing its prequels out of the water.
\nAdjusting for Theater Count
\nWhen we account for inflation and theater count? Everything changes. Toy Story 4 had the widest release of any animated film ever and is currently playing in 4,557 theaters.
\nOn its 12th day? Toy Story was in 2,461 theaters; Toy Story 2 had 3,238 theaters; Toy Story 3 had 4,028.
\nIf we average those 12-days totals by theater count, here are the per-theater averages:
\n\n- \n
- Toy Story: $54,449 \n
- Toy Story 2: $63,959 \n
- Toy Story 3: $69,265 \n
- Toy Story 4: $56,352 \n
Toy Story 4 may technically be the fourth-highest grossing animated movie of all time, but as you can see, when we even the odds against the other films of the franchise, it doesn't seem as illustrious.
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