Inside Out 2 becomes biggest animated movie in history

As well as crossing this milestone, the picture also broke another major record earlier in July after it topped Barbie's global ticket sales, which has cemented the animated blockbuster as the 13th biggest movie in history.

Michael O'Leary, president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners, told Variety: "The film's stunning global success once again illustrates that audiences the world over will respond to compelling, entertaining movies, and that they want to enjoy them on the big screen."

The film – which cost $US200 million ($A306 million) to make – is currently trailing behind Disney's 2019 remake of The Lion King, which pulled in $US1.65 billion ($A2.52 billion).

Technically, The Lion King is a computed-generated film, though the studio classifies it as a live-action remake, and so is not considered an animated flick.

However, it is possible Inside Out 2 will supersede it, as it is only just about to hit theatres in Japan.

The film is set two years after Riley's (Kensington Tallman) move to San Francisco, and follows the young teen as she begins her high school journey and deals with the range of new emotions that come with puberty.

Director Kelsey Mann recently suggested that a third Inside Out film could be made as the creative possibilities within the animated franchise are endless.

In an interview with ComicBook.com, Mann said: "I love this world. It's such a great world to play in, and ideas just kind of come from playing in this world, but for both locations and characters.

"There's so many ideas not only from the first film, but especially in this one, where I'm like, 'That's a really fun, clever idea. I don't know how it fits into this particular story, but it should be used at some point'."