‘Incredibles 2’ Shatters Opening Night Record for an Animated Movie

Incredibles 2 is soaring to a record start at the box office this weekend, as Disney and Pixar’s latest dominated Thursday night’s previews.

According to Deadline, Incredibles 2 hauled in a whopping $18.5 million in its first night in theaters, which nearly doubles the previous record set by Finding Dory. The 2016 sequel earned Pixar $9.2 million in its Thursday bow.

Finding Dory went on to set the record for the biggest opening weekend for an animated film in domestic box office history, earning $135 million in its first outing, with $54.7 million of that total coming on Friday. Considering the preview night numbers, Incredibles 2 seems like a safe bet to break that record as well. The film is currently projected to earn around $150 million over the course of the weekend.

In addition to topping Finding Dory‘s Thursday night total, Incredibles 2 also put down some of Disney’s recent live-action hits. The Pixar sequel beat the likes of Beauty and the Beast ($16.3 million), Spider-Man: Homecoming ($15.4 million), and Thor: Ragnarok ($14.5 million) Incredibles 2 also crushed another superhero team-up film, DC’s Justice League, which earned only $13 million on its opening night.

This is a major feat for Incredibles 2, though it isn’t the first record the new film has set. Fandango recently reported that Brad Bird‘s sequel is the best ever advanced ticket seller for an animated movie.

Assisting Incredibles 2 at the box office this weekend is a severe lack of competition. The film opens against New Line/Warner Bros.’ R-rated comedy Tag, which earned $1.3 million in previews last night. Sony’s Superfly remake also hit theaters this week, and has so far made $2.1 million since its launch on Wednesday.

Unfortunately, Incredibles 2 will likely only enjoy a one week victory at the box office, as Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom arrives in theaters next weekend. Still, it’ll be enough time for the highly-anticipated sequel to annihilate all sorts of animated records.

Are you going to see Incredibles 2 this weekend? Do you think it will break more of Finding Dory‘s records at the box office? Let us know your thoughts by dropping a comment below!

Disney and Pixar’s Incredibles 2, written and directed by Brad Bird, is now playing in theaters.