NEW YORK — Toy Story still has a friend in moviegoers.
The fifth instalment in the Pixar series debuted with US$160 million (S$206.8 million) in domestic ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, easily setting a new franchise record and notching the biggest opening weekend of the year.
Launching 31 years after the original Toy Story first landed in theatres, Toy Story 5 far surpassed the previous series-best debut: US$120 million for Toy Story 4 in 2019.
Internationally, it was just as successful, with US$152 million in opening-weekend sales, for a worldwide haul of US$312 million.
The Toy Story franchise is one of the most profitable for The Walt Disney Co Before Toy Story 5 launched, the movies had collectively grossed more than US$3 billion, while also pulling in billions from merchandising.
Though the series seemed to reach a conclusion with 2010’s Toy Story 3, the decision to revive the franchise almost a decade later – while controversial — has been extremely lucrative.
Toy Story 4 exceeded US$1 billion in ticket sales, and Toy Story 5 is all but certain to as well.
Among animated films, only 2018’s Incredibles 2 had a bigger opening weekend (US$182.7 million) than Toy Story 5.
These toys aren’t cheap
Keeping the Toy Story movies going has gotten more expensive, though.
The fifth movie cost US$250 million to make, not including marketing.
It returns a voice cast led by Tom Hanks (as Woody), Tim Allen (as Buzz Lightyear) and Joan Cusack (as Jessie).
In the sequel, the toys are pushed aside when Bonnie gets a new tablet. It’s directed by Andrew Stanton, the Pixar veteran who helmed Finding Nemo (2003) and WALL-E (2008).
Toy Story 5 also features a new song by Taylor Swift, I Knew It, I Knew You.
Reviews have been very good and audiences gave Toy Story 5 an “A” CinemaScore, suggesting it should remain a force in theatres for weeks.
After its chart-topping debut, Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day slipped to second place with US$17 million in its second weekend.
That’s not the hold that Universal Pictures was hoping for.
Dropping 61 per cent from its first weekend suggests Disclosure Day might not find the legs Spielberg’s sci-fi thriller needs to break out this summer.
Still, the US$115 million budgeted movie, starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor and Colman Domingo, has grossed US$160.4 million globally in two weeks.
Disclosure Day stands a good chance of remaining the top adult-oriented option in theatres in the coming weeks.
Toy Story 5 faced little competition from newcomers.
Robin Hood misses the bullseye
A24’s The Death of Robin Hood, a violent revisionist approach to the old legend, flopped with US$2.6 million on 1,762 screens.
The film, starring Hugh Jackman and directed by Michael Sarnoski, was modestly budgeted at US$20 million.
But after finding mixed reviews, audiences didn’t go for the movie, either. It earned a “C+” CinemaScore.
Neon’s Leviticus came out just ahead of The Death of Robin Hood, with US$2.7 million from 1,076 theatres.
Written and directed by Adrian Chiarella, the buzzy low-budget horror film is about two teen boys who meet at conversion therapy.
It’s a fine start for an indie with a small budget of US$3.5 million and good word-of-mouth. But Leviticus also faced unusually strong competition in the still-potent horror hits Obsession and Backrooms.
The top horror choice remained Obsession, the microbudget phenomenon by 26-year-old Curry Barker.
In its sixth weekend, it nearly equalled its US$17 million opening weekend from mid-May.
The Focus Features release, which cost less than US$1 million to make, added US$14.2 million to bring its domestic total to US$215.8 million and its global haul to $333.3 million.
With Toy Story 5 and Obsession driving sales, the summer box office is up 15 per cent from the 2025 summer, according to Rentrak.
More impressively, summer ticket sales are nearly equal to the 2019 summer at the same point, not accounting for inflation.
The summer to date is just 1.9 per cent down from that year.
Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for Rentrak, expects that Hollywood is heading for its best summer since before the pandemic.
And the success is coming from both expected and unexpected places.
“To me, this is a hybrid summer and this could be the new blueprint for how you build the perfect summer box-office beast,” says Dergarabedian.
“You throw in a mix of very eclectic films and not just the usual suspects — the big franchise films, the known brands — but also films like Backrooms and Obsession and original films like Disclosure Day.”
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theatres, according to Rentrak:
1. Toy Story 5, US$160 million.
2. Disclosure Day, US$17 million.
3. Obsession, US$14.2 million.
4. Backrooms, US$7.3 million.
5. Scary Movie, US$6.7 million.
6. Masters of the Universe, US$5.6 million.
7. Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, US$3.9 million.
8. Leviticus, US$2.7 million.
9. The Death of Robin Hood, US$2.6 million.
10. Michael, US$2.2 million.
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