‘Toy Story 4’ is headed for a massive opening at the box office, but could fall short of breaking the record held by ‘Incredibles 2’

Disney/Pixar

• "Toy Story 4" is expected to energize a lackluster summer box office with a massive opening weekend.
• Experts are projecting the Pixar movie to open between $140 million and $170 million domestically.
• But that would fall short of breaking the record for the biggest animated opening ever, which belongs to "Incredibles 2."
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It’s been a lackluster summer at the box office thanks to a spree of sequel flops, but, once again, Disney is prepared to give the box office a boost with "Toy Story 4."

The movie is projected to have a massive opening when it comes to 4,575 theaters this weekend. That’s the second-widest opening ever behind "Avengers: Endgame," according to Box Office Mojo, which is projecting it to open with $165 million.

READ MORE: Even after ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ this year’s box office is down thanks to a bleak summer full of stale sequels

Boxoffice.com is projecting a more conservative $149 million. Chief analyst Shawn Robbins wrote that the movie will "benefit from some of the most potent goodwill any animated franchise (or otherwise, for that matter) has ever built up across a handful of films in a quarter-century’s time." 

One disadvantage though, according to Robbins, is that "Toy Story 4" is not opening on Father’s Day weekend like past Pixar releases, including "Incredibles 2," so it won’t get that holiday boost on Sunday.

Last year’s "Incredibles 2" holds the record for the biggest opening weekend ever for an animated movie with $183 million. "Toy Story 4" is expected to fall short of breaking that record, but will likely pass "Finding Dory" as the second-biggest animated opening.

"Toy Story 4" raked in $12 million in Thursday previews, the second-best Thursday night for an animated movie, according to Deadline. "Incredibles 2" earned $18.5 million in preview screenings.

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See Also:

• All 21 Pixar movies, ranked from worst to best
• The voice of Forky from ‘Toy Story 4,’ Tony Hale, gives details about the character’s show on Disney Plus
• Even after ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ this year’s box office is down thanks to a bleak summer full of stale sequels

SEE ALSO: ‘Toy Story 4’ is an action-packed entry to the beloved franchise and will get the summer box office back on track

Source: Business Insider – tclark@businessinsider.com (Travis Clark)