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Kids these days might prefer tech to toys, but Woody, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie still got it. “Toy Story 5” ruled over the box office with $160 million from 4,425 North America theaters, landing on the higher end of expectations while securing the biggest domestic debut of the year over Universal’s “Super Mario Galaxy Movie” ($131.7 million). The animated sequel also marks the largest start in Disney and Pixar’s beloved “Toy Story” franchise, surpassing the record set by 2019’s “Toy Story 4” with $120 million. It also scored the second largest animated opening weekend in history, behind only 2018’s “Incredibles 2” with $182.7 million.
Overseas, “Toy Story 5” opened to $152 million for a global tally of $312 million. It carries a $250 million budget, not including global marketing expenses.
“Toy Story 5” is expected to remain the de facto choice among families, considering its strong reviews (94% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience scores (an “A” grade on CinemaScore exit polls). Directed by Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton, the fifth installment follows Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack) and the rest of the anthropomorphic toys as their owner Bonnie becomes attached to her new favorite gadget, a kiddie smart tablet known as Lilypad. Adding to the film’s appeal, Taylor Swift wrote a new song, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” for the soundtrack.
Although original animation has faced challenges in recent years, animated sequels have continued to dominate the box office. Disney’s 2024 follow up “Inside Out 2” and 2025’s “Zootopia 2,” for example, ended their runs with $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion respectively. If those films are any indication, “Toy Story 5” could follow a similar trajectory and become the highest grossing in the franchise, currently led by “Toy Story 4” at $1.07 billion, as well as one of the biggest films of the year.
Family moviegoing has been leading the industry since its strong return after the pandemic in 2023. Much of this success continues to come from sequels and established franchises. “Pixar and Disney are particularly good at growing their series from episode to episode. It’s extremely impressive,” said David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe.
In a distant second place, Steven Spielberg’s sci fi adventure “Disclosure Day” added $17 million from 3,824 locations, a sharp 62% drop from its debut. Although not catastrophic, the decline suggests the film is not resonating beyond its core demographic of older male viewers. So far, “Disclosure Day” has generated $78 million domestically and $82 million internationally, bringing its global total to $160 million after two weekends. With a $115 million budget, the film is estimated to need around $300 million globally to break even.
“Obsession,” now in its sixth weekend, remained strong with $14.2 million from 3,053 theaters, down just 25% from the previous weekend. The horror film has now reached $215 million domestically and $333 million worldwide, making it a major profitable success.
At number four, “Backrooms” continued its steady run with $7.3 million from 2,851 locations in its fourth weekend, a 35% drop. The film has now earned $175 million in North America and $300 million globally, becoming A24’s highest grossing film of all time, overtaking “Marty Supreme” with $191 million.
Paramount’s “Scary Movie” rounded out the top five with $6.7 million from 2,725 venues, bringing domestic totals to $97.4 million and $201.9 million worldwide.
Two other films launched alongside “Toy Story 5” and just managed to crack the top 10. Neon’s festival breakout “Leviticus” opened at number eight with $2.74 million from 1,076 locations, while A24’s “The Death of Robin Hood,” starring Hugh Jackman, followed closely with $2.65 million from 1,782 locations.
“Leviticus” does not yet have a CinemaScore, though strong reviews suggest it may remain a steady draw through the summer season. Meanwhile, “The Death of Robin Hood” may struggle following mixed reviews and a “C+” CinemaScore alongside a 69% Rotten Tomatoes rating.
Elsewhere, Amazon MGM’s “Masters of the Universe” and Disney’s “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” held relatively steady, though neither is performing strongly enough to rescue their overall box office runs.
“Masters of the Universe” has added $5.6 million from 2,517 venues in its third weekend, bringing its global total to $101.9 million against a $200 million budget. It is set to finish as one of the year’s biggest box office disappointments.
“The Mandalorian and Grogu” dropped to seventh place with $3.9 million in its fifth weekend, bringing its global total to more than $320 million against a $165 million budget.
This summer is shaping up to be one of the strongest post COVID box office seasons, driven by sequels and franchise films. Revenues are expected to surpass $4 billion for only the second time since the pandemic, according to industry estimates. The season is currently just 1.8% behind summer 2019 and about 15% ahead of last summer.
After last week’s slowdown, the box office is again running ahead of pre pandemic averages, with industry analysts noting that business remains strong heading into the next wave of major releases.
