Toy Story Just Did Something At The Box Office No Animated Franchise Has Before

"Toy Story 5" is now the highest-grossing movie of 2026 to date. While Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" continued to rule the box office in its second weekend, adding another $215 million worldwide, Pixar's latest managed to cross a major milestone. More than just a milestone for this individual movie, though, the "Toy Story" franchise has now made its way into the cinematic record books.

With the Pixar sequel adding an additional $10 million domestically and $24.7 million internationally over the weekend, its running total now stands at $1.02 billion globally. That puts it just above "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" ($1.01 billion), Hollywood's first $1 billion box office hit of 2026, as the year's number one movie globally thus far. Granted, "The Odyssey" is probably going to find itself in the number one spot before long, but for the moment, Disney and Pixar get to hold onto the crown.

This brings us to the bigger milestone. "Toy Story" is currently the only animated movie franchise in history that has had three movies in a row make at least $1 billion globally at the box office. 2010's "Toy Story 3" became Pixar's highest-grossing movie for a time, ultimately taking in $1.06 billion worldwide, with 2019's "Toy Story 4" pulling in $1.07 billion. It remains to be seen just how high "Toy Story 5" will climb, but that's three in a row, and that's mighty impressive.

The latest entry in the franchise was directed by Andrew Stanton and Kenna Harris. It centers on Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack), and the rest of the gang. Their jobs are threatened when they come face-to-face with Lilypad (Greta Lee), a brand-new tablet device that arrives with her own disruptive ideas about what is best for their kid, Bonnie (Scarlett Spears).

Collectively, the "Toy Story" franchise has made around $4.3 billion, dating back to when 1995's "Toy Story" launched Pixar and turned it into one of Hollywood's most reliable hit-makers. It made a then-massive $365 million worldwide, paving the way for a shockingly enduring property that has transcended multiple generations spanning more than 30 years. What's more, the movies only seem to be growing in popularity, which is downright incredible.

This, despite the fact that some out there have argued that Disney and Pixar should have stopped after "Toy Story 3," which wrapped up a perfect trilogy. However, "Toy Story 5" was met with very positive reviews, which suggests there's still gas in the tank both creatively and commercially. It's also important to point out that this is a hit Pixar very much needed.

In recent years, Pixar has been on a bit of an up-and-down ride. Dumping acclaimed movies like "Soul" and "Turning Red" directly to Disney+ during the pandemic hurt the brand, with films such as "Elio" ($154.2 million worldwide) and "Hoppers" ($389.5 million worldwide) failing to match what Pixar originals used to be able to do. But movies like "Inside Out 2" ($1.69 billion worldwide), which is one of the highest-grossing animated movies of all time, are helping to make it so that Disney and Pixar can continue to invest in original films and, ideally, help get the grosses for those movies back up to a respectable level over time.

In a perfect world, this will become a "rising tide lifts all boats" situation. For now, though, Pixar is getting a much-needed win, and the profits from this movie can help float the next original or two from the studio.

"Toy Story 5" is in theaters now.