Disney’s spin-off sequel, Finding Dory, swam – and swam with a purpose over the weekend, smashing box office records.

With a towering 3-day total of $136.1 million, Finding Dory, starring the voice work of Ellen Degeneres, became the biggest opening of all-time for an animated feature (on the domestic front, that is) – surpassing the $121.6 million total established by Shrek the Third in 2007.

By comparison, Finding Dory also blew away the numbers put up by its 2003 predecessor, Finding Nemo, which opened with $70.2 million – on its way to grossing $936.7 million, worldwide. With a $50 million contribution for foreign markets, Finding Dory is officially off and swimming with $136.1 million. It was produced on an estimated $200 million …show more content…
The opening results for Central Intelligence were on par with the relatively similar Ride Along series, which also stars Kevin Hart. Ride Along managed to earn $41.5 million, while its sequel, opening this past January, debuted with $35.2 million. Central Intelligence was produced on $50 million.

Last weekend’s box office champion, The Conjuring 2, slipped two spots to third, securing $15.5 million. This is becoming a common occurrence for film releases – enjoying one weekend on top and suffering a significant slide and quickly falling from the top spot. The Conjuring 2 suffered a 62% drop from one week ago, but vigorously surpassed its $40 million production budget. To date, The Conjuring 2 has grossed $187.9 million, worldwide ($71.7 million, domestically).

Now You See Me 2 slipped to fourth in its second weekend on the market, grabbing $9.6 million. With that, the poorly received sequel has officially recouped its $90 million production budget – now sitting on $91 million, worldwide ($41.3 million, domestically). It’s been a less than enthusiastic showing for the sequel, thus far – and may be the end of the magic-themed