LOS ANGELES — 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, making it the highest-grossing animated debut of all time, not adjusting for inflation, 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," is also the second-largest June opening of all time, with "Jurassic World" at No. 1. The well-reviewed film features the voices of Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks.
Going into the weekend, analysts expected "Finding Dory" to draw big, $100 million-plus numbers, but never this big.
"The thought was: 'Could this be the movie to eclipse "Toy Story 3's" opening?' not, 'Could it become the biggest animated opening of all time?'" said Paul Dergarabedian, comScore's senior media analyst. "That's the power of the Pixar brand."
Until now, "Toy Story 3" was Pixar's biggest opening ever, with $110.3 million.
Disney Executive Vice President of Distribution Dave Hollis was particularly heartened that the film did such robust late-night business on Friday and Saturday.