Dory Finds Biggest Animated Opening Ever

The forgetful blue fish of Finding Dory is box office gold. The Pixar sequel far-surpassed its already ocean-sized expectations to take in $136.2 million in North American theaters, reports the AP, making it the highest-grossing animated debut of all time, according to comScore estimates Sunday. The 2007 film Shrek the Third was the previous record-holder with a $121.6 million debut. Finding Dory, which comes 13 years after Finding Nemo hit theaters, is also now the second-largest June opening of all time. The well-reviewed film features the voices of Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks and played particularly well with audiences, who gave the film an A on CinemaScore.

"The film simply obliterated expectations, and in true Pixar fashion, delivered a perfect family movie-going experience that proved irresistible to all audiences," said an analyst, per CNN . "Finding Nemo was beloved by audiences in theaters and for over a decade on home video, culminating in Dory's performance that was 13 years in the making." The Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson buddy comedy, Central Intelligence, also had a relatively muscular weekend, with a better-than-expected $34.5 million, putting it in second place. (Read more box office stories.)