Inside Out 2 Just Kicked The Avengers Out Of The All-Time Box Office Top 10

Disney and Pixar's "Inside Out 2" continues to be the story of the year at the box office. The animated sequel has had an impressive run and, even if it had stopped making money weeks ago, it would still sit atop the rest of the competition as the highest-grossing movie of 2024. The cash keeps flowing, though, and the film keeps making its way deeper into the record books. Now, Pixar's latest has officially cracked the top 10 of all time, passing Marvel's seminal 2012 superhero blockbuster "The Avengers."

As of this writing, director Kelsey Mann's "Inside Out 2" has earned $1.524 billion worldwide, per Deadline. That total includes an astonishing $905.1 million overseas to go with $618.8 million domestically. (To be clear, even if this movie made $618 million worldwide, we would still be calling it a success.) That puts it at number 10 all time on the global box office chart, unadjusted for inflation. It most recently passed "Furious 7" ($1.515 billion) and, most importantly, "The Avengers," which shattered records by pulling in $1.52 billion globally in its day.

To be perfectly clear, this is not a situation where we need to lower one to raise the other. "The Avengers" remains one of the most important blockbuster films in history and the fact that it was able to pull together several disparate franchises and execute such a crossover has influenced populist cinema immeasurably over the last decade and change. Meanwhile, "Inside Out 2" has helped to save the box office in what was a down year, in addition to providing proof that audiences are ready to embrace Pixar as a theatrical brand once again. The surprise turnaround of "Elemental" last year certainly helped matters as well. Credit where credit is due.

What "Inside Out 2" has accomplished through six weeks is nothing shy of astonishing. It had already become the highest-grossing animated movie ever, recently overtaking "Frozen II." It's also by far Pixar's biggest movie ever, overtaking "Incredibles 2" ($1.24 billion), and now stands as the third-biggest movie of the pandemic era, behind only "Spider-Man: No Way Home" ($1.9 billion) and "Avatar: The Way of Water" ($2.32 billion).

What's most remarkable looking at the bigger picture is Disney's sheer level of dominance in the modern era. Six of the top 10 biggest movies of all time belong to the Mouse House, including 2019's "The Lion King" ($1.66 billion), "Avengers: Infinity War" ($2 billion), "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" ($2.07 billion), "Avengers: Endgame" ($2.79 billion), and the aforementioned "Way of Water." Since Disney purchased Fox several years ago, 2009's "Avatar" ($2.92 billion), the biggest movie in history, is also technically under that umbrella now.

Speaking of "The Lion King," there are some who would call it the biggest animated movie ever, given that it's composed entirely of CGI, save for one live-action shot. That stands at number nine on the list and, if "Inside Out 2" can somehow add another $140 million or so to its total before all's said and done, the logistics of that conversation will dissolve. Either way, this movie now holds its place in cinema history until something else can come and bump it down a notch or two.

"Inside Out 2" is currently playing in theaters.