You've probably heard by now that Finding Dory made waves this past weekend, breaking all kinds of records. The aquatic adventure story earned $136.2 million at the domestic box office (that's double the amount of the original film, Finding Nemo) and became the biggest animated U.S. opening of all time. The majority of the moviegoers behind those numbers? Women.
ComScore reports that women and girls made up 62% of the underwater story's audience. As expected, many were moms bringing their kids to the theater (66% of viewers were under 25), but still, those are some impressive numbers.
The forgetful fish — hilariously voiced by Ellen DeGeneres — bested (by far) the Kevin Hart and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson buddy cop comedy Central Intelligence, which only brought in $34.5 million (still not bad, we must say). We hope Finding Dory's record-shattering success will be the final of many, many wake-up calls to film studios. Hey, Hollywood: If The Hunger Games, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Pitch Perfect 2 weren't enough to prove to you that we need more female-led films, take note now. Finding Dory is kicking ass, and it's thanks to an audience that wants more women on screen. Create them, and we will continue to put more money in your pockets. Come on, it's a win-win!
We hope the Powers That Be will sit up and pay attention. In the meantime, just keep swimming, Dory — all the way to the bank.
This summer, we're celebrating the biggest movie season of the year with a new series called Blockbust-HER. We'll be looking at everything film-related from the female perspective, interviewing major players in the industry, and discussing where Hollywood is doing right by women and where (all too often) it is failing them. And now...let's go to the movies!