The film earned a whopping $300 million worldwide in its first weekend, making it the biggest opening in franchise film history.
We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
Disney and Pixar's popular animated franchise 'Toy Story 5' has had a record opening at the box office. Released on June 19, the film has earned more than $300 million worldwide in its first weekend. This is the best opening in the history of this franchise.
In this fifth installment, the main characters Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear have faced their biggest rival yet - a 'tablet computer' (digital gadget).
Disney and Pixar's great comeback
This success has come as a great relief for the Disney and Pixar film studios, which have been facing continuous commercial challenges in the last few years. This income has become the second largest 'global opening weekend' of this year.
The biggest opening of the year is ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’, which has so far earned more than $1 billion worldwide. ‘Toy Story 5’ has managed to sell tickets worth $160 million in North America alone and more than $150 million in the rest of the world in its first weekend.
Cost and box office challenge
This film is said to have been made on a big budget of about $250 million. Apart from the production cost, the film needs to earn at least $500 million just to cover marketing and other expenses.
Historically, Pixar films have easily protected their investments. Some films have earned up to three times more than their production and promotion costs. Earlier, Pixar sequels ‘The Incredibles 2’ and ‘Inside Out 2’ had earned more than $1 billion.
However, in recent years, some of these studios' films, such as the Alien-based 'Elio' and the Toy Story spin-off 'Lightyear', have flopped miserably at the box office. Disney's latest big-budget Star Wars spin-off 'The Mandalorian and Groudon' has so far grossed more than double its $165 million budget, or $320 million.
The changing film market and the legacy of 'Toy Story'
Overall box office revenue has declined since the COVID-19 pandemic. Film studios are struggling to bring audiences back to the theaters as audiences have increasingly turned to streaming services (OTTs) such as Netflix and Disney Plus. Big-budget films in particular have not performed as well as they should at the box office. Despite this, the ‘Toy Story’ series is one of Pixar’s highest-grossing franchises. Since introducing Woody and Buzz Lightyear to audiences in 1995, the franchise has grossed more than $3 billion worldwide.
The first film (1995), which introduced the world to toys that come to life, revolutionized the use of computer-generated graphics (CGI) and established Pixar as a top animation studio. The previous third and fourth series each grossed more than $1 billion at the box office.
