“Finding Dory” Delivers Biggest Animated Opening Ever

Audiences had no trouble Finding Dory at the multiplex. Pixar's belated sequel to its magnificent Finding Nemo (2003) found the biggest debut for an animated movie ever. Its estimated $136.1 million bests the previous record-holder Shrek the Third, which opened with $121.6 million back in 2007. In fact, Finding Dory made more than The Good Dinosaur did during its entire run. That's yet another victory for Disney this year, which counts Captain America: Civil War and The Jungle Book among its massive successes.

Central Intelligence paired the comedic talents of Kevin Hart and The Rock, and Warner Bros. was rewarded handsomely. The $34.5 million debut is solid for an original action-comedy and audiences responded well, giving it an A- CinemaScore, which often suggests great word-of-mouth. That's the 7th straight opening of $20 million-plus for each actor.

The Conjuring 2 suffered the big drop that befalls so many horror movies, dipping 61.5 percent. That means it's unlikely to match the original's terrific gross on a much bigger budget. The same is true for Now You See Me 2, which is running about $20 million behind what the original had at this point in its run. But both are better off than Warcraft, whose abysmal opening got worse, as it fell 73 percent. Despite strong grosses in China – where it beat out The Force Awakens in a matter of days – it's unlikely the orcs will get to fight another day.

Outside the top 5:

• This Weekend's Indie Champ: Because of a dearth of new releases, the only independent release with a sizable average was the punnily titled Seoul Searching, an '80s-set comedy about U.S. teens spending their summers in the South Korean capital. It made $6,779 on its lone screen.
• Captain America: Civil War became the first – and potentially only – movie this year to cross $400 million domestically.
• The opening of the oft-delayed horror flick Clown was no laughing matter. It opened on 100 screens, but only made $27,000 total.

Next week:

Next week sees three new releases, but I predict Dory repeats at No. 1. The biggest of the three is definitely Resurgence, the sequel to 1996's biggest movie Independence Day. The absence of Will Smith was always going to hurt it, but now that Fox isn't holding advanced critic screenings seems like the kiss of death. You don't hide your big summer tentpole unless you know you've got a stinker. The other, smaller contenders are Matthew McConaughey's Civil War drama Free State of Jones and the Blake Lively-vs.-shark thriller The Shallows. It could be a big weekend overall, as I think those two films will take more than $20 million, leaving Resurgence with only $50 million, while Dory takes $60 million.