Just keep swimming into their dust, Dory!

"Incredibles 2" is already breaking records at the box office, and it only officially opened today. But last night it held the usual Thursday previews and earned $18.5 million. That's more than double the record "Finding Dory" had set in 2016 with $9.2 million.

That's in keeping with "Incredibles 2" pacing to outperform "Finding Dory," which is the current record-holder for the best domestic opening weekend for any animated movie.

To take the crown, this weekend "Incredibles 2" has to make more than the $135 million "Finding Dory" got in 2016. Experts suggest the "Incredibles " sequel could make up to $140 million, which would give it the edge.

So-called experts have overshot before, but based on Thursday previews, advance ticket sales, and great reviews -- they may be wrong in the other direction. It could do even better than expected.

"Finding Dory" also holds the current record for highest-grossing animated movie at the domestic box office, with a total of $486,295,561. So that's the number "Incredibles 2" would have to beat at the end of its theatrical release.

That said, "Frozen" is still tops when it comes to worldwide gross. "Frozen" made $86 million less than "Finding Dory" in North America, but $875.7 million overseas for a total of almost $1.3 billion. "Finding Dory" "only" made $542 million overseas for a total worldwide gross of just over $1 billion.

In comparison, the first "The Incredibles" movie made $261 million at the domestic box office in 2004, and $371 million at the foreign box office, for a total just over $633 million.

Of course, these highest-grossing lists are not adjusted for inflation. But it's clear Disney-Pixar owns the top of this market.

So now we wait and see how the numbers pan out over the weekend, and how high "Incredibles 2" can fly.

Want more stuff like this? Like us on Facebook.