Toy Story 5 Passes One Billion as Pixar Reaffirms Theatrical Power

Woody, Buzz, and the gang have once again proven there is no escaping this franchise — or its pull at the box office.

Disney and Pixar’s ‘Toy Story 5,’ directed by Andrew Stanton and bringing back Tom Allen as Buzz Lightyear and Tom Hanks as Woody, has crossed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, cementing its place as one of 2026’s defining theatrical events and Pixar’s most commercially successful film in years.

The film opened June 19 to a domestic debut of $159 million — the year’s biggest animated opening and the studio’s strongest launch since the pandemic era — before continuing to draw strong crowd numbers across its theatrical run. The film stood as the year’s highest-grossing title until ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ overtook it in its remarkable first week, with ‘Toy Story 5’ now sitting at over $1.067 billion globally.

The plot reunites the beloved cast of toys for an adventure that pits them against the challenges of modern technology, in the form of a frog-shaped smart tablet voiced by Greta Lee. The inclusion of contemporary tech themes has been praised by critics as a clever and emotionally resonant way to update the franchise’s central preoccupation with obsolescence and belonging.

For Pixar and Disney, the film’s success is a meaningful vindication after a difficult stretch in which several Pixar films were diverted directly to Disney+ rather than receiving full theatrical releases. The studio’s bet on a broad theatrical release for ‘Toy Story 5’ — its first in the franchise since 2019’s ‘Toy Story 4’ grossed over $1 billion — has paid off handsomely.

Parent company Disney has had an exceptional 2026 by any measure. The studio — encompassing Walt Disney Animation, Marvel Studios, Pixar, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, and Searchlight — took in $6 billion at the global box office in 2025, the first time since the pandemic that any single studio had reached that benchmark. The current year is on pace to match or exceed that figure, with ‘Toy Story 5’ joined by the massive opening of ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ and upcoming releases still to come on the calendar.