Toy Story 5 sweeps theaters: official trailer, $250 million budget and opening record in the saga

Toy Story 5 arrived in theaters around the world yesterday and Pixar already has reasons to celebrate. The fifth installment of the saga that reinvented animated cinema in 1995 premiered on June 19, 2026 with Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen) and Jessie (Joan Cusack) facing Lilypad (Greta Lee), a smart tablet that threatens to take over Bonnie's playing time. Disney confirmed the official trailer in February and the teaser in November 2025; Now, with box office figures in real time, the film aims for the best debut of the franchise and the largest budget of the entire series: 250 million dollars, according to Variety.

What is Toy Story 5 about

The action takes place two years after Toy Story 4. Bonnie, now eight years old, is given a frog-shaped tablet called the Lilypad; Parents hope that it will help them socialize, but toys feel like they are losing relevance. Jessie, appointed sheriff of the room after Woody's departure, asks her former partner for help; he returns as Lilypad competes for the girl's attention with screens, networks and the digital world.

Andrew Stanton – co-writer of the four previous installments and director of WALL·E and Finding Nemo – describes the film as a reflection on “an existential problem: almost no one plays with traditional toys anymore.” Randy Newman returns to compose the soundtrack (his fifth in the saga) and Taylor Swift contributes with the single "I Knew It, I Knew You", released on June 5 and number one on the Billboard Global 200.

Budget: the most expensive installment of the saga

With 250 million dollars production budget – not including the global marketing campaign – Toy Story 5 easily surpasses its predecessors and ranks among the most expensive animated films in history. To put it in context:

• Toy Story (1995) cost about 30 M$ and grossed 373.6 M$ worldwide.
• Toy Story 2 (1999) was around $90 M and totaled $497.4 M.
• Toy Story 3 (2010) and Toy Story 4 (2019) were budgeted around 200 M$ each; both surpassed the millennium of dollars at the global box office ($1,067 M and $1,073 M respectively, according to Box Office Mojo).

The jump to $250 million reflects a more complex production—RenderMan href="https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/box-office-toy-story-5-previews-1236785315/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Variety in relation to Toy Story 4.

Box office: first figures and record projection

The premiere followed Pixar's usual schedule: premiere at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on June 9 and national premiere on June 19, coinciding with the Juneteenth long weekend in the United States — a factor that analysts such as Deadline consider Friday and Saturday favorable.

The figures confirmed until the morning of June 20 are these:

• Previews for Thursday the 18th: $17.5 M in the US and Canada — a record for the saga, above the $12 M for Toy Story 4 and the second best preview figure for an animated film, only behind The Incredibles 2 ($18.5 M).
• Friday the 19th (opening day): more than $71 million in North America, almost equaling the animated opening day record for Incredibles 2 ($71.2 million), according to Deadline.
• Accumulated prior to the full weekend: some $43.5 Mworldwide recorded before the close of Sunday (previews plus first international hours), according to data added by media such as Wikipedia with source at the box office of 20 June.

Industry projections for the full weekend (Friday to Sunday) point to:

• $160-170 M in US/Canada (Deadline, ComicBook.com)—far surpassing the $120.9 M for Toy Story 4 and the $110.3 M for Toy Story 3.
• $135 M or more in international markets in the same window.
• More than $275 M combined global opening (Variety, Deadline).

If confirmed, it would be the best debut of 2026 in North America, above The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($131.7 M), and the second best animation debut in history in the US, only behind The Incredibles 2 ($182.6 M).

Comparison with previous deliveries

The table below summarizes budget, US opening, and final worldwide box office for the top five films. Historical figures come from Box Office Mojo and the franchise's Wikipedia; Toy Story 5 shows ongoing data as of June 20.

* Weekend screening of June 20-22, 2026. Confirmed previews: $17.5 M (Thursday).

What does it mean in practice? Although Toy Story 5 can break the opening record of the saga, it would need to approach or exceed the global millennium of dollars – as the third and fourth did – to match its theatrical profitability. With $50 million more budget than Toy Story 4, the room for maneuver is less: a spectacular premiere guarantees news, but long-term revenue (second weeks, international markets, Christmas) will decide if the fifth installment enters the billion-dollar club.

In previews, the saga has already shown growing traction: from $4M in 2010 (TS3) to $12M in 2019 (TS4) and now $17.5M. The curve fits with Woody's return after Toy Story 4, cross-marketing with Taylor Swift and a favorable review that helps family word of mouth.

Criticism and reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film accumulates a 93% positive rating (199 reviews, average 7.8/10). The consensus highlights that the saga "continues to have friends in these endearing characters" despite the era of screens. Metacritic places the score at 73/100. The public that attended the first weekend awarded a CinemaScore A, the same grade that previous installments of the franchise received.

There is no shortage of dissent: The Guardian rated it two stars and spoke of “IP exhaustion”; IndieWire praised the technological commitment but noted a "scattered" script. Most critics agree that Jessie is the true emotional protagonist and that Lilypad functions more as a narrative force than a classic villain — a nuance that Andrew Stanton highlighted in interviews with Empire.

Marketing calendar

• June 13, 2025: first sequences at the Annecy Festival.
• November 11, 2025: teaser and poster ("Toy meets Tech").
• February 19, 2026: official trailer and expanded cast announcement (Craig Robinson, Keanu Reeves, Greta Lee).
• June 5, 2026: Taylor Swift single "I Knew It, I Knew You."
• June 9, 2026: world premiere in Los Angeles.
• June 19, 2026: theatrical release.

In summary

Is it worth going to the movies? Critics and audiences say yes, with a PG nuance for humor and somewhat more adult themes. Is it the most expensive? Yes: $250 million compared to $200 million for the previous two. Is it already breaking records? In previews yes ($17.5 M); The weekend aims for $160-170 million in the US. Does it surpass Toy Story 3 and 4 at the total box office? It's still early; He would need to get close to the world billion to be in their league. Where to watch the trailer? Above, in the official Pixar embeds on YouTube.