The mind-blowing success of Inside Out

Pixar’s Inside Out had parents deep-diving into their pockets last weekend. The film far exceeded expectations by grossing $90 million at the domestic box office. Though Jurassic World took the top spot with $107 million, the animation studio isn’t complaining. Inside Out, directed by Pete Docter (Up), is now the biggest original box office debut in history.

“I was really caught off guard,” says Pixar Animations Studio president Jim Morris. Adds Docter: “The amount of people going into theaters last weekend was insane. And to me, that’s the desired audience. People watching not on their iPhones but in a theater.”

Ironically, Pixar will be heading to a Jurassic world, too, in a way, with its November release, The Good Dinosaur. The story of a teenage dino named Arlo who becomes BFFs with a young boy “was a troubled film,” says Morris. The studio delayed the film, which was initially slated for release in 2014, after it replaced director Bob Peterson (Up), with longtime Pixar artist Peter Sohn (Partly Cloudly) back in 2013. The movie was also given an entirely new cast and story line. “It’s so different from Inside Out,” says Morris. “But it’s wonderful and charming and raw in its own way.”

Also in the Pixar pipeline through 2018 are three franchise spin-offs, including Finding Dory, Toy Story 4, and The Incredibles 2. “We try to have a balance, ideally an original film every year and a sequel every other year,” Morris explains. Which leads to the question that’s already on everyone’s mind: Will there be an Inside Out sequel?

Docter doesn’t seem to be in the mood. “There’s no sequel idea from me at this point,” says, adding that he’d rather build more original fare for the studio. But not all hope is lost. “Never say never,” he teases. Hey, that’s enough to bring us at least a little Joy.