Whether it's shooting free throws, batting baseballs or distributing animated feature films, 11 for 11 ain't bad.
And that's where Disney/Pixar's batting average stands today, as the duo's 11th and latest successful animated feature, the 3D "Toy Story 3," became the collaboration's all-time top opener, debuting to $109 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates.
Ponder that for a second — that's 11 No. 1 openings spanning back to 1995's first "Toy Story" movie, and this is the biggest one yet.
"No one to our knowledge has ever opened 11 consecutive pictures in first place," noted Disney theatrical distribution chief Chuck Viane.
Garnering an A grade from movie customer satisfaction poller CinemaScore, and nearly unanimous positive reviews from critics, the first "Toy Story" movie since 1999 bested Pixar's top premiere total to date, which was the $70.5 million established by "The Incredibles" in 2004.
It is also the biggest June opening ever for any film.
"We kind of lucked out, joining the club for a movie like this," said Greg Foster, president of filmed entertainment for big-screen exhibition chain IMAX, which was presenting its first Disney/Pixar film.
Debuting on 180 IMAX screens, "Toy Story 3" grossed $8.4 million at the chain, nearly doubling up last month's IMAX debut of DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek Forever After," which grossed $4.8 million at 194 IMAX locations.
Keeping the record theme going, "Toy Story 3" had the biggest animated-film opening ever for IMAX.
Opening strongly in Latin America and China — and avoiding the World Cup-crazy European territories until July — the third "Toy Story" also took in $44.8 million abroad.
Domestically, the strong opening pushed a North American box-office that had been ice-cold throughout May to a second straight weekend of year-to-year gains — it's up about 31 percent this weekend, according to one studio's estimate.
For the second consecutive weekend, the domestic market received big help from Sony's "Karate Kid," which dropped about 47 percent from its premiere but still brought in $29 million. The $40 million remake has grossed $106.3 million to date.
Meanwhile, the weekend's only other wide opening, Warner/Legendary's DC Comics-adapted "Jonah Hex," floundered badly, debuting to $5.1 million — about half of what was a pretty bad $10 million-range pre-release forecast.
Among holdovers, Fox's "The A-Team" hung strong in week two, dropping just over 40 percent to $13.8 million and finishing in third place. Shot for $95 million, the film has grossed nearly $50 million domestically and has potentially strong international ticket sales to count, too.
Fox officials were also pleased with the results of the sneak preview they did of Tom Cruise film "Knight and Day," which was shown in 500 locations to about 85 percent capacity.
"Reaction was sensational across the board," said one studio official.
Meanwhile, among other holdovers holding up well, Universal comedy "Get Him to the Greek" dropped just 38 percent in week three, to $6.1 million, and has now tallied $47.9 million on a $40 million production spend.
Disney's "Prince of Persia," meanwhile, dropped less than 15 percent in week four, grossing $5.3 million. The $200 million-plus Jerry Bruckheimer film is now up to $80.5 million.
In sixth place, the fourth and final "Shrek" movie grossed $5.5 million, despite having the bulk of its 3D exhibition taken away by "Toy Story 3." "Shrek Forever After" has grossed $223 million to date in North America.
Lionsgate's "Killers," meanwhile, took in $5.1 million in its third weekend, bringing the most expensive movie in studio history up to $39.3 million. The budget on the comedy was $75 million before tax breaks and foreign pre-sales.
Here's how the top 10 at the domestic box office shaped up this weekend:
“Toy Story 3” ($109m)
“Karate Kid” ($29m)
“The A-Team” ($13.8m)
“Get Him to the Greek” ($6.1m)
“Shrek Forever After” ($5.5m)
“Prince of Persia” ($5.3m)
“Jonah Hex” ($5.1m)
“Killers” ($5.1m)
“Marmaduke” ($2.7m)
“Iron Man 2” ($2.7m)
