‘Finding Dory’ blows animation record out of the water

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 (R2 billion) in North American theatres, making it the highest-grossing animated debut of all time, according to comScore estimates on 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” hit theatres, is also now the second-largest June opening of all time. The well-reviewed film features the voices of Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks and played particularly well with audiences, who gave the film an A CinemaScore.

The Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson buddy comedy “Central Intelligence” also had a relatively muscular weekend, with a better-than-expected $34.5 million, putting it in second place.