It's been a lackluster summer at the box office thanks to a spree of sequel flops, but, once again, Disney is prepared to give the box office a boost with "Toy Story 4."
The movie is projected to have a massive opening when it comes to 4,575 theaters this weekend. That's the second-widest opening ever behind "Avengers: Endgame," according to Box Office Mojo, which is projecting it to open with $165 million.
Boxoffice.com is projecting a more conservative $149 million. Chief analyst Shawn Robbins wrote that the movie will "benefit from some of the most potent goodwill any animated franchise (or otherwise, for that matter) has ever built up across a handful of films in a quarter-century's time."
One disadvantage though, according to Robbins, is that "Toy Story 4" is not opening on Father's Day weekend like past Pixar releases, including "Incredibles 2," so it won't get that holiday boost on Sunday.
Last year's "Incredibles 2" holds the record for the biggest opening weekend ever for an animated movie with $183 million. "Toy Story 4" is expected to fall short of breaking that record, but will likely pass "Finding Dory" as the second-biggest animated opening.
"Toy Story 4" raked in $12 million in Thursday previews, the second-best Thursday night for an animated movie, according to Deadline. "Incredibles 2" earned $18.5 million in preview screenings.
