Toy Story 4 Opening Night Box Office Is Second Highest in History for Animated Movies

The original Toy Story debuted back in 1995 at a time when Hollywood was beginning to fully embrace the possibilities of CGI in movies. Not only was the film the first computer-animated feature film, but it also delivered loveable characters whose legacy would be felt for years to come. More than two decades later, a fourth film in the franchise has landed in theaters, delivering audiences the exciting action and charming characters we know and love, which is already proving to be a hit at the box office. Toy Story 4's opening night preview numbers are the second best for an animated film, behind Pixar's Incredibles 2.

Deadline confirms that Toy Story 4 took in $12 million on Thursday night, which is behind Incredibles 2's $18.5 million opening night. The site notes that this could put the film on track for an opening in the $150 to $160 million range. Likely the reason for the difference is that Incredibles fans had to wait 14 years for that first sequel while the previous Toy Story film hit theaters in 2010.

The conclusion of Toy Story 3 seemed pretty definitive for our characters, though with the franchise being Pixar's first foray into feature films, the characters are close to the hearts of all of its filmmakers.

"We realized, we love the end of Toy Story 3," director Josh Cooley previously shared with ComicBook.com. "It ends Woody and Andy's story perfectly. We realize there is more story to tell to continue Woody's story and once we started going down that path and realizing oh there is more to tell for Woody, we just kept going and we hit upon something that's worth telling."

Despite fans thinking the series had come to a natural conclusion, one Pixar exec claims that this new entry is something that the studio had been considering for a while. This fourth film could have even happened sooner, but the studio wanted to ensure they were delivering the best product.

"Nobody's harder on us [about] making a great Toy Story movie than we are," Pixar's Andrew Stanton admitted back in 2016. "We know what it feels like to hit the bull's-eye. And that's part of the reason we've delayed it, so that we can really nail it. I know there's a lot of concern about 'Why a fourth?' But the truth is, we always had the intention of continuing."

Toy Story 4 is in theaters now.

Are you surprised that the film is taking in such big numbers? Let us know in the comments below!