Box Office Results: ‘Toy Story 4’ Saves Stale Summer

After weeks of uninspired sequels putting up weak numbers, Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 4” arrived this weekend to reverse box office fortunes.

With a $118 million in the U.S. and Canada, the fourth entry in the celebrated animated series finished in first and had the best opening weekend in franchise history, narrowly beating out the $110 million weekend of “Toy Story 3” in 2010. The good news continued overseas, with $128 million earned from foreign markets for a $238 million total. This marks the highest global weekend ever for an animated film.

The weekend’s other toy-based fare, the remake of “Child’s Play,” took a distant second with $14 million, a best for its long-running franchise as well (unadjusted for inflation). With a slim $10 million budget and decent reviews, time will tell if the new take on the murderous doll has enough week-to-week hold to stick around.

Rounding out the new releases this week was Luc Besson’s “Anna,” a generic female-led spy thriller that couldn’t recall any of the French director’s previous success. Finishing outside the top 10 in 11th place, the film put up a measly $3.5 million. Besson’s films usually perform better in his native France and Europe at large, but based on its American debut, success is looking unlikely.

Elsewhere, Disney’s “Aladdin” continued to demonstrate tremendous staying power with audiences, falling just 29.5 percent for a third-place $12 million. Its global total currently sits north of $800 million. Sony’s “Men in Black: International” had a harsher 64 percent drop from its opening weekend, finishing in fourth with $10.7 million and leaving it with only $182 million worldwide.

Closing out the top five this weekend was “The Secret Life of Pets 2” with $10.2 million. Foreign numbers continue to lag for the animated sequel, with only a $194 million worldwide total, but business should pick up soon as the film rolls out to more major markets.