The Incredibles, the superhero CGI feature produced by Pixar and distributed by Disney, opened big in 3,933 theaters, grossing an estimated $70.7 million over the three-day weekend.  If the number holds, that would make The Incredibles the second biggest animated feature ever, just beating Finding Nemo's $70.3 million and falling to Shrek 2's $108 million.  The Incredibles is the biggest November opening for an animated feature ever, easily beating Pixar/Disney's Monsters, Inc., which opened with $62.6 million. 

 

In addition to the great buzz surrounding the latest release from the maker of the Toy Story films, Monsters Inc., and Finding Nemo and the marketing campaign mounted by the studio, $60 million in TV advertising came from the film's promotional partners (see 'The Incredibles Gets $60 Million in TV Ads'). 

 

Teenagers and adults without children made up around 1/3 of the audience, indicating a very strong potential market for Incredibles merchandise other than kids' products -- including the books and comics.  Among the products available now or coming soon are the book products from Chronicle Books (see 'Chronicle Books To Do the Incredibles'), the comic adaptation from Dark Horse (see 'Dark Horse Has the Incredibles'), the Cine-Manga from Tokyopop, and trading cards from Upper Deck.