In the battle of toys versus tech … it looks like toys have come out on top.
Toy Story 5 had a massive opening weekend in theaters. How big? It’s $160 million in the U.S. alone makes it the biggest opening for any movie released in 2026 so far. It’s also the biggest opening weekend in the 30-year history of the Toy Story franchise.
It’s the second-biggest opening weekend in the history of Pixar Animation Studios, behind only 2018’s Incredibles 2, which grossed a monster $182.6 million in its first three days in theaters.
To put these numbers into some perspective: Toy Story 5 made more money in the U.S. in three days of release than the Toy Story spinoff Lightyear earned in its entire run in domestic theaters. ($118.3 million) So that’s a pretty good start. (Or just a really bad run for Lightyear. Or maybe both.)
$160 million is also nearly as much as Pixar’s last release, Hoppers, grossed in its entire domestic theatrical run. ($166.0 million)
READ MORE: Every Toy Story Movie and TV Special, Ranked From Worst to Best
Worldwide, Toy Story 5 earned $312 in its first three days of release, also second all-time in the history of Pixar; in that case Inside Out 2 holds the record with $384 million overseas.
Here how Toy Story 5 compares with the other opening weekends in the history of the franchise:
- Toy Story 5 (2026) – $160 million
- Toy Story 4 (2019) – $120.9 million
- Toy Story 3 (2010) – $110.3 million
- Lightyear (2022) – $50.5 million
- Toy Story (1995) – $29.1 million
- Toy Story 2 (1999) – $300,163
The first Toy Story movie in seven years, the film reunited all the core characters and voices from the long-running animated series, including Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Joan Allen. It was also the first film in the franchise directed by Andrew Stanton, the Pixar veteran who directed Finding Nemo and WALL-E, and also contributed to the screenplays for all four previous Toy Story movies. And he’s already said a Toy Story 6 is very likely before the movie started breaking box-office records. So I would say now it’s only a matter of time.
