Emeryville’s Pixar may have regained its mojo after a two film “losing streak” as Finding Dory maintained the top box office spot for the second consecutive week. Pixar’s streak of fourteen consecutive films to debut number one in box-office receipts was halted last year with the release of Inside Out who went up against the Jurassic World blockbuster. While Inside Out went on to be a commercial and critical success, it was followed up by The Good Dinosaur which also took second in box office receipts behind The Hunger Games sequel. Production of The Good Dinosaur endured a rocky road to the theater including a mid-stream director change and subsequent release delay. It was eventually labeled Pixar’s “first box-office bomb” amid tepid reviews and a disappointing revenue.

Finding Dory is the sequel to the 2003 hit Finding Nemo and includes the voice of comic Ellen Degeneres. Dory reeled in an estimated $136.2 million in opening weekend ticket sales in North America, setting a record for a Pixar film. Writer/Director Andrew Stanton previously directed Finding Dory’s predecessor, 2008’s WALL-E and wrote many other Pixar hits including the breakthrough original Toy Story. It was Stanton’s first return to animation after directing the disappointing 2012 Disney live-action film John Carter.

As is customary, Pixar films generally contain Easter Eggs that reference our city. According to Screenrant.com the number 1200, which is Pixar’s address on Park Avenue, appears on a life raft in the above sequence. The ’86’ signifies the year Pixar became incorporated after being acquired from ILM by Steve Jobs.

Pixar’s Emeryville studio was completed in 2000 at the site of a former Del Monte Cannery. Del Monte’s “Plant No. 35” closed in 1989 and was demolished in 1992 after 70 years of operation.

The site was originally approved for a new Kaiser facility before Kaiser backed out. A fiery Jerry Brown can be seen opposing the project in the below EPOA YouTube clip. Disney went on to acquire Pixar in 2006 and tapered their community involvement in Emeryville shortly thereafter.
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‘Finding Dory’ Sets Box Office Record for Pixar

“Finding Dory” set a record for a Pixar film. Credit Pixar/Disney, via Associated Press
Consider her found.

Putting to rest worries of sequel fatigue and a soft overall start to the summer box office, at least for now, the strongly reviewed “Finding Dory” (Disney) arrived to $136.2 million in estimated weekend ticket sales in North America, setting a record for a Pixar film, even when adjusting for inflation.

The results are a return to form for Pixar, which suffered disappointing sales in the fall for “The Good Dinosaur.” “Finding Dory,” a sequel to “Finding Nemo” that cost at least $300 million to make and market worldwide, played in 4,305 theaters in the United States and Canada, one of the widest releases for an animated film. About 3,200 locations played the film in 3-D, which raised the ticket price by $3 to $5.

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