Incredibles 2 is still going strong, and has recently passed the $600 million mark in domestic sales at the box office, CNET reports. It’s the third Disney movie of 2018 to reach this impressive milestone. The other two huge blockbusters for Disney this summer were Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther . Disney has definitely perfected their superhero movie formula this year, with all three films receiving critical praise in addition to their enormous box office success.
In addition to the “incredible” domestic sales, Incredibles 2 brought in $1.16 billion globally. It’s a serious contender for the highest grossing Disney film of all time, and the first animated film to pass this earnings mark. It surpassed the impressive $1.15 billion earnings of the previous record holder, Minions .
Disney’s top animated earner is Frozen . Box Office Mojo reports that the 2013 Disney animated film about two sisters in an icy kingdom is still the current record holder at $1.27 billion. Incredibles 2 is hurtling toward surpassing that record if this momentum keeps up.
Incredibles 2 was a long-awaited sequel that did not disappoint. The first film came out in 2004, a full 14 years before the sequel. It also did very well, and fans were hungry for a sequel. After the original, writer and director Brad Bird was interested in a sequel, but opted to work on other projects first. The option came back up again in 2014.
Superhero films had become even more popular during the intervening 10 years between when the film was released and when Bird started the sequel, and thinking of a new angle was a challenge. But the film, which pits the Parr family against the public in defense of superheroes, has been widely praised.
Interestingly, Bird himself does not seem overly enthusiastic about sequels, despite the success of his own film. Recently, Bird has expressed his dismay on Twitter that sequels seem to be the only films that are able to get studio backing right now. He stated that he’s looking for more original work, along the lines of Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk .
“Some of the best films made are sequels,” Bird tweeted, “and yes, they are hard to do well. But they are getting to be the only movies of size and ambition that Hollywood will make now. And that’s not only sad, it’s shortsighted.”
It’s natural that a writer and director wants to invent new stories and characters, but a well-made sequel is also deeply satisfying for fans and helps introduce new viewers to the original content.
