LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) – Disney’s “Toy Story 5” romped to the best opening weekend of the year, raking in USD160 million in North America, industry estimates showed Sunday, a record for the much-loved Pixar franchise.

The sequel, which debuted over Father’s Day weekend, features Woody the cowboy, Buzz Lightyear and their gang of toys fighting for survival against competition from technology, particularly a tablet.

“This is prime family moviegoing season and ‘Toy Story’ is delivering,” said industry analyst David A. Gross.

Gross called it “another sensational opening for a Pixar series sequel,” noting that “Toy Story 5” had the best starting weekend for any film in the franchise, an estimated 37 per cent higher than “Toy Story 4.”

That will likely make it the second-biggest animated movie opening of all time, behind Disney unit Pixar’s “Incredibles 2,” which made USD182.7 million in June 2018, he said.

“Family moviegoing has been leading the industry since it came roaring back from the pandemic in 2023,” Gross added. “A lot of the genre’s success is coming from sequels, live-action remakes of animation pictures, and hybrid combinations.”

“Toy Story 5” — which returns with Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack voicing key characters — opened on 4,425 screens across the United States and Canada over the weekend, Exhibitor Relations’ estimates showed.

Runner-up in the weekend box office take was the Stephen Spielberg-directed sci-fi thriller “Disclosure Day,” which debuted the previous weekend.

With an ensemble cast led by Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor, the action-packed Universal film follows an effort to reveal a decades-long coverup of extraterrestrial visitations.

It brought in an estimated USD17 million, lifting its total to USD78.2 million, according to estimates.

In third place was Focus Features’ indie horror hit “Obsession,” which took in another USD14 million in its sixth week out for a total domestic haul of USD215.8 million, data showed.

A24’s horror film “Backrooms” remained in fourth place with USD7.3 million, taking its domestic total to USD175 million in its fourth week out.

Coming in fifth was Paramount’s “Scary Movie,” a reboot of the parody franchise, earning USD6.7 million in its third week out.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

“Masters of the Universe” (USD5.6 million)

“Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” (USD3.9 million)

“Leviticus” (debuted at USD2.7 million)

“The Death of Robin Hood” (debuted USD2.6 million)

“Michael” (USD2.2 million)

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin