Pixar Animation remains undefeated at the box-office races. The Disney unit's animated sequel "Cars 2" cruised to a No. 1 finish with a $68 million opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. That makes 12 wins in a row for Pixar since the company's first feature film, 1995's "Toy Story."
"It couldn't be any better than that. What an unbelievable track record these guys have," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney.
"Cars 2" added $42.9 million in 18 overseas markets, giving it a worldwide total of $110.9 million.
Domestically, "Cars 2" nearly matched the $68.1 million debut of Disney-Pixar's "Up" two years ago, though it was well below the company's record of $110.3 million for last year's "Toy Story 3."
The original "Cars" had a $60.1 million debut in 2006, but factoring in today's higher admission prices, it sold more tickets than "Cars 2."
Premiering in second-place was Cameron Diaz's classroom comedy "Bad Teacher" with $31 million. The Sony Pictures release added $12.9 million overseas in about 10 countries.
The previous weekend's No. 1 flick, Ryan Reynolds' "Green Lantern," fell to third-place with $18.4 million. That was off a steep 65 percent from its revenues over opening weekend, raising the domestic total for the Warner Bros. superhero tale to $89.3 million.
Both new wide releases came in ahead of industry projections, which had pegged "Cars 2" at an opening of around $60 million and "Bad Teacher" at about $25 million. Read more