Toy Story 5 scored the biggest opening weekend of 2026 with $160 million in domestic ticket sales June 19-21, but will that affect the streaming plans for the Disney-Pixar release?
Directed by Finding Nemo and WALL-E filmmaker Andrew Stanton, Toy Story 5 is the first film in the franchise to hit theaters since Toy Story 4 was released in 2019. The original Toy Story, of course, got the ball rolling in 1995, followed by the releases of Toy Story 2 in 1999 and Toy Story 3 in 2010.
The new Toy Story finds digital devices disrupting the lives of Woody (voice of Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and Jessie (Joan Cusack) when the digital device Lilypad (Greta Lee) is given to 8-year-old Bonnie (Scarlett Spears). aThe young girl immediately becomes entranced with Lilypad, while all of her traditional toys fall by the wayside.
In addition to earning $159.6 million from 4,425 North American theaters over the weekend, Toy Story 5 made another $150.5 million in international ticket sales in its opening frame, resulting in a staggering opening globally tally of $310.1 million in its first three days of release. With the start like that, Toy Story may very well be heading toward a $1 billion worldwide box office take like its predecessors Toy Story 3 ($1.068 billion) and Toy Story 4 ($1.071 billion).
Despite the film’s blockbuster start and potentially lucrative box office run, it’s unlikely that Disney will change its strategy for the film’s digital release. Currently, the studio has in place a two-month window between its film’s theatrical premiere dates and releases on digital streaming via premium video on demand, no matter how much the films make in theaters.
Disney’s ‘Zootopia 2’ And Live-Action ‘Lilo & Stitch’ Each Had 2-Month Theatrical-To-PVOD Windows
Disney released two films in 2025 that went on to gross more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office. The first was Lilo & Stitch, a live-action and animated hybrid remake of the studio’s 2003 animated classic.
Released on May 23, 2025, the film made its debut on PVOD a day shy of two months later on July 22, 2025, while it was still thriving in theaters. By the time the film wrapped up its North American theatrical run on Oct. 2, 2025, it banked nearly $423.8 million domestically and $614.2 million internationally for a worldwide box office tally of $1.038 billion.
Walt Disney Animation Studios also followed its two-month theatrical-to-PVOD formula for Zootopia 2, which opened in theaters on Nov. 26, 2025, and arrived on digital streaming just over two months later, on Jan. 27, 2026.
Like Lilo & Stitch, Zootopia 2 maintained a long theatrical run despite its PVOD availability, as it finally wrapped up its domestic run on Oct. 2, 2026, with $428 million in ticket sales. Coupled with the film’s $1.442 billion in international receipts, Zootopia 2 ended up with a worldwide box office tally of $1.870 billion.
As such, viewers looking forward to watching Toy Story 5 at home are looking at Disney implementing its two-month theatrical-to-PVOD for the film’s release, which would mean an Aug. 18 digital streaming debut, since new releases typically arrive on Tuesdays.
It is worth noting, though, that since Zootopia 2 and Lilo & Stitch are Disney productions, and Toy Story 5 is a Disney and Pixar production (since Disney owns the venerable animation studio), the wait for the film to arrive on PVOD may be a week longer.
In 2024, Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out 2 — which earned $1.698 billion worldwide during its theatrical run — was released in theaters on June 14, 2024, and debuted on PVOD about 2 months and one week later, on Aug. 20, 2024. In 2025, however, Disney-Pixar’s financial dud Elio had a two-month window as it debuted in theaters on June 20 and arrived on PVOD on Aug. 19.
So, if Toy Story 5 follows the same release pattern as Inside Out 2, viewers are looking at an Aug. 25 release.
PVOD releases from Disney generally run anywhere from $24.99 to $29.99 to purchase, or $19.99 to $24.99 to rent for a 48-hour period. New films on PVOD are typically available on a variety of digital platforms, including Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Prime Video and YouTube Movies & TV.
When Will ‘Toy Story 5’ Arrive On Disney+?
For Disney+ subscribers, there’s generally a three-and-a-half-month window — specifically, 103 days — between the time Disney’s films premiere in theaters and arrive on the streaming service.
Both Inside Out 2 and Lilo & Stitch arrived on Disney+ 103 days after their respective theatrical debuts, while it took Zootopia 2 105 days to debut on the platform since the film opened on a Wednesday. Should Toy Story 5 follow the same release pattern, then viewers can expect the film to arrive on Disney+ on Sept. 30, since new films typically debut on the platform on Wednesdays.
Currently, the only way you can see Toy Story 5 is in theaters, so check your local listings for showtimes.
