Walt Disney Studios has crossed $4 billion at the global box office in 2026, becoming only the second studio this year to reach that mark.
Universal Pictures got there first, about a week earlier, according to Deadline’s box office report. It’s Disney’s second major milestone of the year, coming roughly two months after the studio became the first to pass $3 billion worldwide back in June.
TOY STORY 5 has a lot to do with those numbers.
“[TOY STORY 5] appeals across every imaginable audience demographic,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, describing the Pixar sequel as a “four-quadrant movie” with the kind of “solid playability” that keeps ticket sales strong well past opening weekend.
That staying power shows in the numbers. TOY STORY 5 has earned $1.095 billion worldwide, split between $471.3 million domestic and $624.2 million overseas, making it Disney’s top earner of the year by a wide margin.
Related: Do We Know When TOY STORY 5 Will Start Streaming?
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2, released under Disney’s 20th Century Studios banner, has added nearly $692 million, pushing the two-movie franchise past $1 billion combined. HOPPERS, an original Pixar release, has brought in roughly $390 million on its own.
Not every title carried its weight. STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU earned $345 million worldwide, the lowest total of any live-action Star Wars movie to date, while the live-action MOANA reached $281.5 million, a soft number for a movie built on a beloved animated predecessor.
“Even when our franchise films don’t meet our box office expectations, our investments fuel other parts of our company,” said Josh D’Amaro, chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company, pointing to a boost in Star Wars retail sales and a strong future for MOANA on Disney+.
Hugh Johnston, chief financial officer of The Walt Disney Company, put it more bluntly, calling theatrical results “just one data point” in judging whether a movie’s underlying franchise pays off over time, according to that same report.
It’s the kind of answer that would sound like spin coming from a smaller studio, but Disney has earned some benefit of the doubt. The company has finished as Hollywood’s top-grossing studio nine of the last 10 years, and it’s on track to do it again in 2026, even with Universal — riding THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, MICHAEL and THE ODYSSEY — reaching $4 billion first this time around.
For families deciding where to spend a movie night, the box office total only tells half the story. Movieguide®’s review of TOY STORY 5 praised the movie for promoting friendship, good parenting, and repentance, and for offering “a great warning for parents about not letting children become addicted to their tech devices and screens.” MOANA drew a more mixed verdict, with Movieguide® flagging its “mixed, very pagan worldview” as one reason many families stuck with the 2016 original instead.
That’s the pattern running underneath Disney’s $4 billion year. Audiences turn out in force for movies that earn their trust, and they hang back, or stay skeptical, when one doesn’t. Box office math and family viewing habits run on different equations — and 2026 has made that plainer than most years.
Read Next: STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU
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