Frozen 2 achieves biggest box office opening weekend for an animated movie ever

Animated sequel beats record previously set by June’s Toy Story 4

Frozen 2 has had the biggest opening for an animated film in history at the worldwide box office.

The Disney sequel grossed $350.2m (£271m) in its first three days, with the film simultaneously released in countries including the USA, UK, China and South Korea.

The film also beat the box office record previously held by Toy Story 4, which opened to $240.9m (£186m) worldwide in June.

The first Frozen, released in 2013, grossed $110.6m (£85m) worldwide in its opening weekend.

In the USA, Frozen 2 grossed $127m (£98m) in its first three days, easily beating an array of newcomers including the Chadwick Boseman vehicle 21 Bridges and the Tom Hanks comedy-drama A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood.

In a statement, Disney’s President of Theatrical Distribution Cathleen Taff said: “We are definitely thrilled. It’s not easy to follow up the original Frozen.

“We are cautiously optimistic the film will continue to have legs. With the strong social scores and the holidays coming up, I think we’re going to have a good run.”

With the early success of Frozen 2, Disney has additionally grossed $3.5 billion in total for 2019 so far, thanks to hits including Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King and Aladdin.

It is expected that Disney’s lucrative year will continue in December with the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.