Moviegoers rushed to theaters over the weekend to see "Toy Story 5," the newest film in the animated franchise that dates back to 1995. The movie set several records over the weekend and could provide good news for shareholders of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) and AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE:AMC) stocks.
Toy Story 5 Sets Records
Expectations for "Toy Story 5" were high given the past success of the four films in the franchise, including "Toy Story 4" being the current record holder for the franchise overall.
Over the weekend, "Toy Story 5" opened with $160 million in domestic box office and $152 million in international box office, good for a global total of $312 million, as reported by Variety.
This marks the highest global opening for the franchise and the highest domestic opening for the franchise.
The film also has the highest domestic box office opening this year, topping "The Super Mario Galaxy" and its $131.7 million total. Overall, the film has the second highest global opening, trailing "The Super Mario Galaxy."
For the Pixar franchise, "Toy Story 5" has the second highest international opening ever, trailing "Inside Out 2." The new film is also the second largest animated opening domestically ever, trailing only the $182.7 million total for "The Incredibles 2."
Toy Story has been a dominant franchise for Disney for years, earning an estimated $1 billion annually in sales from consumer products, games and publishing. The new film extends the franchise and adds to its massive success over more than 30 years.
The success of "Toy Story 5" could provide a boost to movie theater stocks like AMC, with the company saying it had its busiest weekend of 2026 in the United States.
AMC reported it had over 4.8 million moviegoers globally from Thursday through Sunday, helping set a new 2026 U.S. attendance total, as well as record admissions and food & beverage revenue. The company said the weekend marked its largest food & beverage revenue in the United States in more than a year.
"We congratulate our friends at Disney and Pixar, as well as the Toy Story 5 filmmakers, on delivering a theatrical event that clearly connected with audiences and helped drive AMC’s busiest weekend in the United States so far this year," AMC CEO Adam Aron said.
With strong reviews, the film could continue to fare well in theaters, helping offset the recent weakness of Disney’s latest Star Wars film.
Star Wars Underperforms
Releasing films from both the Star Wars and Toy Story franchises may have been viewed as a home run for Disney more than a year ago, but instead has turned into the best of times and worst of times for the media giant.
"The Mandalorian and Grogu" opened in theaters in May and turned in a domestic weekend opening of $98 million, the lowest total in franchise history since Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012.
The film has continued to struggle with a current domestic total of $172 million and global box office total of $320 million. Barring a late push, this means the film will go down as the lowest domestic and global box office totals in the Star Wars franchise since the 2012 acquisition, trailing "Solo: A Star Wars Story" from 2018.
The film featured characters from a well-known streaming show on Disney+, including the once-popular Grogu (aka Baby Yoda), but moviegoers weren’t as excited about a film that may be more of an extended episode of the series.
As the first Star Wars film in theaters since 2019, this marks a potential major blow to the franchise.
The good news is that "The Mandalorian and Grogu" carries an estimated cost of $165 million according to Variety, which means the film could still end up being a money maker for Disney in theaters, alongside its boost for theme parks, consumer products and more segments.
Disney Stock Stuck
Disney shares are down 7.1% in 2026. The stock hit highs of around $106 in April before dropping, then hit highs of around $108 in May. The stock has since fallen in June and looks a long way from the 52-week high of $124.69, set nearly a year ago.
The company reported quarterly financials in early May with earnings per share and revenue both beating analyst estimates.
This included the company’s key Entertainment, Experiences, and Sports segments, all seeing revenue up on a year-over-year basis.
The misses and hits of Star Wars and Toy Story could lead to more muted summer box office results than originally estimated, with shares seeing less upside from analysts.
The mixed results could also put more pressure on the upcoming theatrical releases of "Moana (live action)" on July 10 and "Avengers: Doomsday" on Dec. 18. Both films are expected to see strong box office results, and any sign of disappointment in the opening or overall figures could see Disney shares fall further in 2026.
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