Toy Story 5 hits $1 billion worldwide, third in the franchise

Right, so we’re talking about Toy Story 5. Against all odds (and a fair bit of grumbling from people who reckon the franchise peaked at number three), Pixar’s plastic gang are still shifting tickets at record pace. If you thought it was inevitable the magic would fizzle out by this point, you’ll want to take a look at the latest numbers.

Toy Story 5 has become the third film this year to pull in over $1 billion worldwide—and it’s now the third in the series to reach that milestone.

Still a Box Office Dynamo

Everyone’s favourite collection of emotional toys has notched up another monster success for Pixar. Toy Story 5 joins Toy Story 3 (from 2010) and Toy Story 4 (2019) in the club of Pixar films that have crossed $1 billion globally. That’s not just a franchise feat, but puts it in genuinely elite box office company for 2026.

• Toy Story 5 is now the sixth Pixar title to cross $1 billion
• The other Pixar billionaires: Finding Dory, Incredibles 2, Inside Out 2
• Amongst all 2026 releases so far, the only films ahead of Toy Story 5 are The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Michael—and Toy Story’s in the process of overtaking both
• It’s also on track to beat Toy Story 4’s own $1.07bn (unadjusted) total, but not expected to leapfrog Inside Out 2 at the top

So, for all the purists who claim the series ran out of ideas years ago, the numbers genuinely don’t back that up. Whatever magic sauce Pixar still puts into these things, people clearly keep coming for more.

What’s the Film Actually Like?

Word of mouth before release was, predictably, quite good; turns out, it wasn’t just hype. Chris Bumbray, reviewing for JoBlo, gave Toy Story 5 a solid 8/10. Here’s what he thought:

‘Toy Story 5 is terrific and, at certain moments, comes close to equalling the original trilogy. In fact, the first half hour of the film may be the strongest in the series to date, even if it begins to spin its wheels a bit later on. Ultimately, the film winds up just a notch below the original trilogy, but well ahead of the fourth movie and easily Pixar’s strongest overall film since its heyday.’

Bumbray also pointed out that this instalment’s got Andrew Stanton—the man behind Finding Nemo and WALL-E—in the director’s seat, which, frankly, explains a lot. The story leans into a bit of nostalgia for adults who grew up with these characters and are now apparently meant to identify with Jessie dealing with her own existential crises.