‘Toy Story 5’ surpasses $800 million worldwide

“Toy Story 5” has notched another notable box office milestone with more than $800 million in global ticket sales.

After three weekends of release, the animated sequel has generated $381 million domestically and $427.3 million internationally, bringing its worldwide tally to a massive $808.6 million. At this pace, “Toy Story 5” is primed to pass $1 billion and should eventually overtake 2019’s “Toy Story 4” ($1.07 billion) as the highest-grossing installment in Disney and Pixar’s beloved animated franchise.

It’s currently the third-biggest Hollywood release of the year after “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” ($1.009 billion) and the Michael Jackson biopic “Michael” ($991 million). Since “Mario” and “Michael” opened in the spring and have mostly winded down their theatrical runs, “Toy Story 5” is expected to surpass those titles on global box office charts.

“Toy Story 5” opened in mid June and collected a franchise-best $160 million in its opening weekend. “Toy Story 4” previously held the record for the largest start in the 30-year-old series with $120 million. The fifth “Toy Story” also scored the second-largest animated opening weekend in history, behind only 2018’s “Incredibles 2” with $182.7 million. With goodwill toward the property as well as stellar reviews and audience reactions, “Toy Story 5” has remained a draw among family audiences despite competition from another kid-friendly adventure, “Minions & Monsters.”

“Toy Story 5” carries a mega $250 million budget but has already justified its price tag. And that’s just the theatrical windfall. Even without new installments to fuel interest, “Toy Story” earns more than $1 billion annually in worldwide retail sales across consumer products, games and publishing.

Andrew Stanton, a Pixar veteran whose credits include classics like “Finding Nemo” and “Wall-E,” directed “Toy Story 5,” which grapples with the reality that kids would rather play with tech than toys. The story follows Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie and crew as their owner Bonnie becomes addicted to her new favorite gadget, a kiddie smart tablet known as Lilypad.

-Variety