Why I Stopped Doubting Toy Story 5 (and This Weekend's Box Office)

A fifth Toy Story film should feel like a shameless cash grab. This is a franchise that has already delivered two perfectly good endings, and it belongs to a studio that has spent the last few years off its game. So when Disney announced Toy Story 5 back in 2023, my instinct was to brace for the worst.

Then a few things happened. Pixar dropped a one-minute preview clip that genuinely looks incredible, Taylor Swift turned up to the premiere clutching her childhood VHS tape and asked the cast to sign it, and I started to feel something I did not expect: this thing might actually work.

Is Toy Story 5 just a cash grab?

No, and the reasons come down to who is making it and why. Pixar used to be automatic. Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles: for more than a decade the studio simply could not miss. Lately it has been a different story. Soul, Luca, and Turning Red were all solid films that got shunted straight to Disney Plus, and Lightyear flopped outright.

What pulls me back toward optimism is the director. Andrew Stanton has been at Pixar since the beginning, worked on every Toy Story, and made two of the studio's best in Finding Nemo and Wall-E. Back in 2023, Tim Allen said on the Tonight Show that the writer had told him he would not do it unless he got it right. That is the kind of quote that could be empty PR, except Stanton has since backed it up.

When asked why this movie needed to exist, Stanton explained that it is less a battle than a reckoning with an existential problem: nobody is playing with toys anymore. Technology has reshaped how kids grow up, and the film wants to sit with what that means for us and for them. Crucially, he added that they refuse to just make tech the villain. That is not cash-grab talk. That is a filmmaker with something to say. My tickets are booked for Thursday, and my inner child is not being subtle about it.

Weekend box office: a billion-dollar May without Marvel

The biggest winner was Spielberg's sci-fi outing Disclosure Day, which opened to $44 million. I was quietly hoping for something closer to $50 million given the $115 million budget, but I enjoyed the film, and if you like Spielberg and sci-fi it is worth your time. As a bonus, Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, and Dakota Fanning were spotted seeing it together, complete with a Spielberg popcorn bucket I now need to track down.

The ongoing story is Obsession, which held the number two spot again with $19 million in its fifth weekend, down only 25 percent. That kind of leg is absurd, and yes, I still have not seen it. I will fix that.

The real trouble sign is Masters of the Universe, down 70 percent to under $9 million against a budget reported as high as $200 million. That math is very hard to recover from. I did not flag Scary Movie as my biggest concern despite a 74 percent drop, because it pulled in $55 million last week on a $30 million budget, which is a completely different situation.

One genuine feel-good note: Michael is now the most successful musical biopic ever at $932 million worldwide. Catch it before it leaves theaters.

Film	Note
Disclosure Day	Opened $44M (budget $115M)
Obsession	$19M, 5th weekend, down 25%
Masters of the Universe	Under $9M, down 70%
Scary Movie	Down 74%, $30M budget
Michael	$932M worldwide, record musical biopic

Here is the stat that matters most. This is the first May since the pandemic to top $1 billion domestically, and the first time that has happened in May without a Marvel movie carrying it. People are showing up for a wider variety of films, being more selective with their money, and rewarding fresh ideas over recognizable IP. I have argued before that audiences turning out for unexpected films is a healthy trend, and this only reinforces it. It is good for the industry and, more importantly, good for storytelling.

Hollywood's biggest merger just got approved

While audiences get pickier, the studios are getting bigger. The DOJ has cleared the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery deal, a $111 billion acquisition that combines Paramount, CBS, Paramount Plus, and Nickelodeon with Warner Bros., HBO Max, CNN, and the DC Universe.

Per Variety, the Department of Justice concluded the transaction is not likely to harm competition or American consumers. Paramount CEO David Ellison says he expects to close by September. Whether that timeline holds, and whether this is good or bad for the industry, is the open question. Consolidation on this scale rarely leaves creative choices untouched.

The Batman II has finally started filming

Matt Reeves posted the production slate to Instagram, confirming principal photography is underway. Robert Pattinson is back alongside Jeffrey Wright, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell, with newcomers Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson, and Charles Dance joining. The release date is October 1, 2027.

I loved The Batman, so the news is bittersweet. Filming starting now means a five-year gap between installments, which is a long time to sit on that much goodwill. Still, that cast list is a strong reason to be patient.

Trailer of the week: The Death of Robin Hood

A24's The Death of Robin Hood pairs Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer in what looks like a dark, revisionist take on the legend. The trailer is gritty, gorgeous, and almost unrecognizable as a Robin Hood movie, which is exactly why it works. It comes from the director of Pig and A Quiet Place Day One, and the cinematography alone sells it.

Jackman looks older and jaded here, a world away from Wolverine a couple of years back, and his range keeps paying off. I do not think anyone needed another Robin Hood film, but a genuinely different story? I am in. Put A24 on it and Jackman in it and you have my attention.

Coming soon this weekend

Toy Story 5 is the obvious headline, projecting an opening of $150 to $170 million. That would be the biggest debut of the summer so far and possibly one of the year's biggest until Avengers: Doomsday arrives in winter. The story follows Jessie, with Joan Cusack back in the role, and centers on a tablet called Lily Pad that Bonnie receives as a gift. Conan O'Brien voices a new character named Smartypants. Given the last two films each cleared a billion worldwide, this one is going to print money.

The Death of Robin Hood opens as smart counterprogramming, tracking a modest $8 to $13 million. Also worth watching: Girls Like Girls, a coming-of-age drama from Focus Features.

Toy Story 5 is the film I was ready to write off, and now it is the one I am most curious about. If Stanton actually pulls off a Pixar sequel about kids outgrowing their toys, that is not milking a franchise. That is the franchise earning its fifth chapter. See you at the movies.