Entertainment News

'Toy Story 5' opens to $160M, the biggest US debut of 2026, with a Taylor Swift song

Toy Story 5 opened to $160 million in North America over the June 19–21 weekend and $312 million worldwide, reported Khaleej Times, citing Variety. Playing in 4,425 theatres, Pixar's sequel had the biggest domestic debut of 2026, ahead of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's $131.7 million, and the biggest opening in the franchise, beating Toy Story 4's $120 million in 2019. It is the second-largest animated opening ever, behind Incredibles 2 ($182.7 million).

Andrew Stanton directed, with Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack returning. Khaleej Times said Taylor Swift wrote the end-credits song “I Knew It, I Knew You” after seeing the film, and performed with Randy Newman at the Los Angeles premiere.

“I got so inspired, got the songwriter zoomies, went home, wrote the end credit song for Toy Story 5.” — Taylor Swift, via Khaleej Times

The A.V. Club said the film beat second-placed Disclosure Day by more than $140 million, but put an asterisk on Disney's claim of the biggest opening of 2026: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie took $372.5 million globally, though it opened on a Wednesday in more territories. It framed the result as a real hit for Disney after The Mandalorian and Grogu fell short of hopes.

How each outlet framed it

• Khaleej Times — records, the cast and the Taylor Swift song.
• The A.V. Club — Disney's summer rebound and the caveat on its record claim.

What happened next: Fortune reported a week later that the film took $70 million in its second weekend and $585 million globally in two weeks.