What Toy Story 5's Box Office Means For The Future Of The Franchise

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Pixar may have had its struggles with original movies in recent years, but the animation studio's sequels are as popular as they've ever been. Case in point, "Toy Story 5" just posted the biggest opening weekend at the box office in 2026. "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" ruled the box office with a $131 million opening earlier this year, but Buzz and Woody exceeded that and then some with their return to the silver screen.

Director Andrew Stanton's "Toy Story 5" opened to an estimated $160 million domestically to go with a whopping $152 million internationally for a $312 million global debut. That instantly makes it one of the ten biggest movies of the year so far globally after a single weekend. While it remains to be seen what happens from here, "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" became Hollywood's first $1 billion hit of 2026 with a smaller opening weekend. That bodes very well for Pixar's latest.

Disney needs Pixar to remain viable and, right now, it's hit or miss with the original movies. "Hoppers" helped secure a future for Pixar originals, but it made just $372 million worldwide. A barely passable sum in light of how expensive it was to make. That being the case, "Toy Story 5" has ensured that Disney will continue to lean pretty hard on Pixar sequels for the foreseeable future. As it relates to this franchise specifically, "Toy Story 6" is probably going to happen.

The latest sequel centers on Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack) whose jobs are challenged when Lilypad (Greta Lee), a brand-new tablet device, arrives with her own disruptive ideas about what is best for their kid, Bonnie.

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While certain folks may groan at the idea of "Toy Story 5" in the first place, general audiences are showing up in record numbers. It had the biggest opening weekend in the history of the franchise, beating "Toy Story 5" ($120.9 million). Audiences absolutely love these characters and they've managed to transcend multiple generations at this point.

The original "Toy Story" helped make Pixar into one of Hollywood's most reliable hit-makers. Now, more than 30 years later, these characters remain more than commercially viable. Assuming Disney can persuade Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and the rest of the key players to come back yet again, "Toy Story 6" is all but assured to happen. Director Andrew Stanton has already hinted as much.

"Andy had a perfect trilogy, hopefully Bonnie can have the same," Stanton recently said in an interview with Dextero.

The original "Toy Story" trilogy is oft-regarded as one of the best in cinema history. If Pixar truly does make that Andy's trilogy and makes one more movie rounding out Bonnie's trilogy, that would make a lot of sense. Especially since every single one of these movies has been heralded by critics. There's been little-to-no perceived drop-off in quality.

Pixar tried to deviate a bit with "Lightyear," which bombed at the box office. That's not to say a spin-off couldn't have worked, but that one certainly didn't. "Elio" also flopped at the box office last year, becoming Pixar's lowest-grossing movie ever. For the time being, until they can get some meaningful original hits, the company has to lean into what's working to help justify more original storytelling.

"Toy Story 5" is in theaters now.