NEW YORK: “Toy Story” still has a friend in moviegoers.

The fifth installment in the Pixar series debuted with $160 million in domestic ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, easily setting a new franchise record and notching the biggest opening weekend of the year.

Launching 31 years after the original “Toy Story” first landed in theaters, “Toy Story 5” far surpassed the previous series-best debut: $120 million for “Toy Story 4” in 2019. Internationally, it was just as successful, with $152 million in opening-weekend sales, for a worldwide haul of $312 million.

The “Toy Story” franchise is one of the most profitable for The Walt Disney Co. Before “Toy Story 5” launched, the movies had collectively grossed more than $3 billion, while also pulling in billions from merchandising.

Though the series seemed to reach a conclusion with 2010’s “Toy Story 3,” the decision to revive the franchise almost a decade later — while controversial — has been extremely lucrative. “Toy Story 4” exceeded $1 billion in ticket sales, and “Toy Story 5” is all but certain to as well.

Among animated films, only 2018’s “Incredibles 2” had a bigger opening weekend ($182.7 million) than “Toy Story 5.”

These toys aren’t cheap

Keeping the “Toy Story” movies going has gotten more expensive, though.

The fifth movie cost $250 million to make, not including marketing. It returns a voice cast led by Tom Hanks (as Woody), Tim Allen (as Buzz Lightyear) and Joan Cusack (as Jessie).

In the sequel, the toys are pushed aside when Bonnie gets a new tablet. It’s directed by Andrew Stanton, the Pixar veteran who helmed “Finding Nemo” (2003) and “WALL-E” (2008). “Toy Story 5” also features a new song by Taylor Swift, “I Knew It, I Knew You.”

Reviews have been very good and audiences gave “Toy Story 5” an “A” CinemaScore, suggesting it should remain a force in theaters for weeks.

After its chart-topping debut, Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day” slipped to second place with $17 million in its second weekend. That’s not the hold that Universal Pictures was hoping for. Dropping 61% from its first weekend suggests “Disclosure Day” might not find the legs Spielberg’s sci-fi thriller needs to break out this summer.

Still, the $115 million budgeted movie, starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor and Colman Domingo, has grossed $160.4 million globally in two weeks. “Disclosure Day” stands a good chance of remaining the top adult-oriented option in theaters in the coming weeks.

“Toy Story 5” faced little competition from newcomers.

‘Robin Hood’ misses the bullseye

A24’s “The Death of Robin Hood,” a violent revisionist approach to the old legend, flopped with $2.6 million on 1,762 screens. The film, starring Hugh Jackman and directed by Michael Sarnoski, was modestly budgeted at $20 million. But after finding mixed reviews, audiences didn’t go for the movie, either. It earned a “C+” CinemaScore.

Neon’s “Leviticus” came out just ahead of “The Death of Robin Hood,” with $2.7 million from 1,076 theaters. Written and directed by Adrian Chiarella, the buzzy low-budget horror film is about two teen boys who meet at conversion therapy. It’s a fine start for an indie with a small budget of $3.5 million and good word-of-mouth. But “Leviticus” also faced unusually strong competition in the still-potent horror hits “Obsession” and “Backrooms.”

The top horror choice remained “Obsession,” the microbudget phenomenon by 26-year-old Curry Barker. In its sixth weekend, it nearly equaled its $17 million opening weekend from mid-May. The Focus Features release, which cost less than $1 million to make, added $14.2 million to bring its domestic total to $215.8 million and its global haul to $333.3 million.

With “Toy Story 5” and “Obsession” driving sales, the summer box office is up 15% from the 2025 summer, according to Rentrak. More impressively, summer ticket sales are nearly equal to the 2019 summer at the same point, not accounting for inflation. The summer to date is just 1.9% down from that year.

Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for Rentrak, expects that Hollywood is heading for its best summer since before the pandemic. And the success is coming from both expected and unexpected places.

“To me, this is a hybrid summer and this could be the new blueprint for how you build the perfect summer box-office beast,” says Dergarabedian. “You throw in a mix of very eclectic films and not just the usual suspects — the big franchise films, the known brands — but also films like ‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession’ and original films like ‘Disclosure Day.’”

Top 10 movies by domestic box office

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak:

1. “Toy Story 5,” $160 million.

2. “Disclosure Day,” $17 million.

3. “Obsession,” $14.2 million.

4. “Backrooms,” $7.3 million.

5. “Scary Movie,” $6.7 million.

6. “Masters of the Universe,” $5.6 million.

7. “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” $3.9 million.

8. “Leviticus,” $2.7 million.

9. “The Death of Robin Hood,” $2.6 million.

10. “Michael,” $2.2 million.

GN

After her most recent short-lived marriage, Jennifer Lopez has taken sly digs at ex-husband Ben Affleck more than once. The “Kiss of the Spider Woman” star appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in May 2026, where she was asked about her post-divorce love life. “You’re single right now,” Jimmy Kimmel noted, and Lopez gave an enthusiastic reply. “I should have done it sooner! I’ve been doing it all wrong!” she exclaimed while laughing. Kimmel had a recommendation for how Lopez could find her next beau, and playfully suggested she should sign up for “The Bachelorette.” The “Hustlers” star shot down that idea and explained that she enjoyed being single too much. “Are you crazy? I’m not doing anything to ruin how I feel right now,” she told Kimmel. Even though she seemed opposed to the idea of settling down again, Lopez didn’t completely rule out the idea of future romance. “I’ll meet somebody, somewhere, one day,” she said.

In 2025, rumors swirled that Lopez had potentially met her next somebody while filming the rom-com “Office Romance” with co-star Brett Goldstein. Lopez and Goldstein reportedly had terrific chemistry both on and off camera. “They’re both professional … when the cameras are rolling, but in between, it’s a flirt fest,” an inside source told InTouch in April 2025. Another insider claimed that while Goldstein seemed very into her, Lopez wasn’t interested in pursuing him as a proper boyfriend. “She had fun with him … but it was never going to turn into anything serious for her,” the source told InTouch in April 2026.

Jennifer Lopez has actually been quite frank about how her past husbands and partners fell short. While appearing on “The Howard Stern Show” in October 2025, Jennifer Lopez gave the inside story on her four divorces. Howard Stern asked her if she had ever “truly been loved,” and the actor didn’t mince words, responding, “No.” Going into further detail, Jennifer Lopez not-so-subtly confirmed that Ben Affleck was always the problem. “When I got divorced this last time, it was the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said. Her divorce from Affleck drove her to find various therapists to get to the root of why she had been married and divorced so many times. “What I learned, it’s not that I’m not lovable — it’s that they’re not capable,” Lopez said of her past partners’ ability to give true love. Though she said her past partners were very generous with material things, when it came to love and real intimacy, she said, “they don’t have it in them.” 

It would seem that calling it quits with Affleck was the right decision for Lopez, and she has reportedly been thriving since finalizing her divorce in January 2025. “She’s been having the time of her life this summer,” a source told People in August 2025. Besides all the self-reflection that Lopez mentioned, the actor-singer also found joy performing throughout her “Up All Night” music tour. “It’s been a great focus for her. She’s been doing what she really enjoys,” the insider added. Given how happy and fulfilled she seems now, perhaps it may actually be a while until we hear that Lopez is set to walk down the aisle again.

Nicki Swift

Hollywood can breathe a sigh of relief: Generation Z is not only going to the movies, it’s driving box office growth.

During the pandemic, when theaters shut down and streaming became a dominant force in the media landscape, fears rose that this young cohort would shun the big screen as they matured into more engaged consumers. 

However, this generation, which ranges from around 14 to 29 years old, is one of the most active moviegoing demographics and attends more films per year than some older generations, according to data from Fandango.

In 2025, members of Gen Z saw an average of seven movies in theaters — matching average viewership among millennials — while members of Generation X and baby boomers saw around six movies on average, Fandango found.

“Gen Z is driving moviegoer trends today, and I think people are shocked,” said Jason Dorsey, president and co-founder of The Center for Generational Kinetics and co-author of “Zconomy.” “They’re like, ‘Oh, Gen Z doesn’t want to leave their house.’ That’s not true. Gen Z absolutely wants to leave their house — probably more than you know.”

Gen Z accounted for nearly 40% of all movie audiences in North America in 2025, according to data from Comscore.

As teens and 20-somethings become the dominant generation at the box office, they’re also shaping the future of moviegoing — and studios and movie theaters are taking note.

“Not only are we seeing a bigger and bigger percentage of Gen Z make up our overall audience, but their frequency is increasing year over year,” Carrie Trotter, senior vice president of marketing at AMC, told CNBC. “So they have become one of the most important audiences for us, and I see that in the future, it may become the absolute most important audience for us.”

Building loyalty among Gen Z

Helping to fuel Gen Z’s affinity for the movies is the fact that it remains one of the more inexpensive forms of entertainment.

“Ticket pricing has gone up, as it does, but when you compare it to the year-over-year inflation rate, it’s on par, if not less,” said Steve Buck of EntTelligence, a movie data firm. “When you think about Gen Z, they are cost-conscious, but they’re opening up their wallet.”

Gen Zers came of age around the time of Covid, which Dorsey called a “generation-defining experience.” This cohort doesn’t know a time without social media or smartphones and is incredibly cost-conscious, having grown up in a time of great uncertainty, he said.

“Covid uprooted all of their plans,” Dorsey said. “They were going to school, going to college … everything got turned upside down and it lasted for a long period of time. So, we see them much more fiscally conscious. I’ll say it generally, like they’re really conservative with their money in general, much more thrifty than we would expect for somebody at their age.”

This has led a significant portion of Gen Z to opt for loyalty programs at movie theaters, like AMC’s A-list, Regal Unlimited and Cinemark’s Movie Club, that reward them for money spent or allow them to see multiple films a month for a subscription fee.

“Gen Z over-indexes in the AMC A-List tier, and their participation has grown triple since the pandemic,” Trotter said, noting that AMC’s program also allows customers to book tickets for other loyalty members that are part of their friend group.

“We’re trying to make it as frictionless as possible so we can encourage as much moviegoing and this social atmosphere,” she said.

At Rutgers Cinema in Piscataway, New Jersey, general manager Alex DelVecchio is keeping ticket prices low for the the students at nearby Rutgers University. Students who show a school ID pay just $5 for matinee screenings and $9.50 for all other general admissions. That’s quite a bit cheaper than the nationwide average of nearly $13.50, according to EntTelligence.

“We try to keep it as cheap as we can,” DelVecchio said.

But it’s not all about affordability. DelVecchio said he also runs promos like free slushies on Wednesdays and looks for ways to engage his predominantly college-age consumer.

For the release of Warner Bros.′ “It: Chapter One” in 2017, DelVecchio said the company put a clown in every theater, posted red balloons all over campus and had a staff member wear a yellow jacket and play with a paper boat outside to mimic iconic scenes from the movie.

“We started selling everything out,” he said. “And, then, once you get the momentum you can keep it as long as you keep playing what they want.”

While Gen Zers are selective about their spending, they are willing to shell out for experiences, particularly social activities they can do with their friends that give them an excuse to disconnect from their phones.

“This is a way for them to come and spend time with their friends and their family, and that social experience really outweighs the movie itself that they’re seeing,” Trotter said. “But also there’s a little bit of FOMO [fear of missing out], like they want to be part of the excitement and their fandom of that fuels their desire to be the first to see these movies and be part of the conversation as it’s happening.”

And while Gen Z enjoys staying off their phones during the movie, they still use social media to share their thoughts on films and see what others think of new and old titles.

Letterboxd, an online platform where moviegoers can track movies they’ve watched and post reviews, has become so ubiquitous with this generation that Hollywood has come to refer to Gen Z interchangeably as the Letterboxd generation.

The site currently has more than 29 million users, with more than half of that base under the age of 35. Through Letterboxd, Gen Z is relying more on community reviews than those of official movie critics when choosing what movies to see in theaters.

What Gen Z wants to watch

Of course, Gen Z has some genre-specific preferences, and Hollywood appears to be playing to them.

Similar to their elders, this age group often flocks to cinemas for horror films and R-rated fare. But they diverge from previous generations in their interest in anime and video game adaptations based on games they played growing up. Gen Zers have also shown a penchant for older, rereleased titles, leaning into the nostalgia of moviegoing.

In 2025, “A Minecraft Movie,” based on the popular online game, was the most attended film by Gen Z, according to data from EntTelligence. The Warner Bros. film generated more than $424 million domestically during its theatrical run, the second-highest take of the year, and tallied $960 million globally.

Meanwhile Sony and Crunchyroll’s “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba — The Movie: Infinity Castle” saw the largest percentage of Gen Z in its audiences, with 42% of tickets being sold to this members of the generation.

So far in 2026, Universal’s “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is the most attended film by Gen Z. It’s secured $425 million domestically, the highest-grossing film of the year so far, and $982 million globally. 

Box office analysts expect films like Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5,” Universal’s “Minions & Monsters,” Sony’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and Marvel’s “Avengers: Doomsday” to see a significant portion of ticket sales from Gen Z audiences.

“I think theaters have a real opening right now to be that in-person social experience for Gen Z,” Dorsey said. “It’s still fragile, the generation is still finicky, but there’s a massive opportunity for them to be able to build on the fact that they can create these wonderful in-person experiences and in a more affordable way.”

CNBC