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Pixar’s latest Toy Story sequel becomes the studio’s sixth US$1 billion film, setting its sights on a new franchise box-office record
PIXAR has reached another major milestone at the global box office, with Toy Story 5 surpassing US$1 billion (RM4.1 billion) worldwide during its sixth weekend in cinemas. The film added US$34 million globally over the latest weekend, including US$10 million from North America, becoming the studio’s sixth billion-dollar release.
Reaching the milestone always appeared inevitable after the film debuted with a massive US$312 million global opening weekend. It now joins Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4 as the third instalment in the franchise to cross the US$1 billion mark.
Since its release, Toy Story 5 has remained the leading choice for family audiences throughout the summer, maintaining strong momentum despite competition from Universal/Illumination’s Minions & Monsters.
Meanwhile, Disney’s live-action Moana remake has struggled to gain traction, only recently surpassing US$200 million worldwide after three weekends.
Pixar’s other billion-dollar films include Finding Dory (2016), Incredibles 2 (2018) and Inside Out 2 (2024), which briefly held the record as the highest-grossing animated film of all time.
Although Toy Story 5 is unlikely to match the extraordinary box-office performance of the latter, it is expected to overtake Toy Story 4’s worldwide total, setting a new franchise record more than three decades after the original Toy Story launched Pixar’s rise as a global animation powerhouse.
Franchise continues to deliver
What once seemed like a fitting conclusion with Toy Story 3 has evolved into a franchise that continues to resonate with audiences. Rather than being viewed as an unnecessary extension, the latest sequels have maintained strong audience support and avoided the perception that often accompanies long-running film series.
The newest instalment explores contemporary concerns surrounding technology and artificial intelligence. The story follows Bonnie’s toys, now led by Jessie, as they confront Lilypad, a tablet-like toy that competes for their young owner’s attention, reflecting modern debates over children’s relationship with digital devices.
Even if theSun saw the film unfavourably in our review, the film has nonetheless earned widespread praise, receiving 92% from critics and 94% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.
Its strong performance has also helped sustain the summer box office at a time when releases such as Moana and Supergirl have underperformed.
In doing so, it has overtaken The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Michael to become 2026’s highest-grossing film worldwide.
However, that record and Toy Story 5’s legs at the box office are expected to be webbed up once Sony and Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrives in cinemas this Friday.
Forecasts for the Tom Holland superhero film suggest an opening weekend that could exceed Toy Story 5’s impressive debut, including US domestic projections of well over US$200 million.
