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‘Toy Story 5’ Rakes in the Biggest Box-Office Debut of the Year with a Franchise-Best $160 Million

This image released by Disney shows characters Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Tim Allen, left, and Woody, voiced by Tom Hanks, in a scene from "Toy Story 5." (Pixar-Disney via AP)
This image released by Disney shows characters Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Tim Allen, left, and Woody, voiced by Tom Hanks, in a scene from "Toy Story 5." (Pixar-Disney via AP)
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‘Toy Story 5’ Rakes in the Biggest Box-Office Debut of the Year with a Franchise-Best $160 Million

This image released by Disney shows characters Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Tim Allen, left, and Woody, voiced by Tom Hanks, in a scene from "Toy Story 5." (Pixar-Disney via AP)
This image released by Disney shows characters Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Tim Allen, left, and Woody, voiced by Tom Hanks, in a scene from "Toy Story 5." (Pixar-Disney via AP)

“Toy Story” still has a friend in moviegoers.

The fifth installment in the Pixar series debuted with $160 million in domestic ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, easily setting a new franchise record and notching the biggest opening weekend of the year.

Launching 31 years after the original “Toy Story” first landed in theaters, “Toy Story 5” far surpassed the previous series-best debut: $120 million for “Toy Story 4” in 2019. Internationally, it was just as successful, with $152 million in opening-weekend sales, for a worldwide haul of $312 million.

The “Toy Story” franchise is one of the most profitable for The Walt Disney Co. Before “Toy Story 5” launched, the movies had collectively grossed more than $3 billion, while also pulling in billions from merchandising.

Though the series seemed to reach a conclusion with 2010’s “Toy Story 3,” the decision to revive the franchise almost a decade later — while controversial — has been extremely lucrative. “Toy Story 4” exceeded $1 billion in ticket sales, and “Toy Story 5” is all but certain to as well.

Among animated films, only 2018's “Incredibles 2” had a bigger opening weekend ($182.7 million) than “Toy Story 5.”

Keeping the “Toy Story” movies going has gotten more expensive, though. The fifth movie cost $250 million to make, not including marketing. It returns a voice cast led by Tom Hanks (as Woody), Tim Allen (as Buzz Lightyear) and Joan Cusack (as Jessie).

In the sequel, the toys are pushed aside when Bonnie gets a new tablet. It’s directed by Andrew Stanton, the Pixar veteran who helmed “Finding Nemo” (2003) and “WALL-E” (2008). “Toy Story 5” also features a new song by Taylor Swift, “I Knew It, I Knew You.”

Reviews have been very good and audiences gave “Toy Story 5” an “A” CinemaScore, suggesting it should remain a force in theaters for weeks.

After its chart-topping debut, Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day” slipped to second place with $17 million in its second weekend. That’s not the hold that Universal Pictures was hoping for. Dropping 61% from its first weekend suggests “Disclosure Day” might not find the legs Spielberg’s sci-fi thriller needs to break out this summer.

Still, the $115 million budgeted movie, starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor and Colman Domingo, has grossed $160.4 million globally in two weeks. “Disclosure Day” stands a good chance of remaining the top adult-oriented option in theaters in the coming weeks.

“Toy Story 5” faced little competition from newcomers.

‘Robin Hood’ misses the bullseye

A24’s “The Death of Robin Hood,” a violent revisionist approach to the old legend, flopped with $2.6 million on 1,762 screens. The film, starring Hugh Jackman and directed by Michael Sarnoski, was modestly budgeted at $20 million. But after finding mixed reviews, audiences didn’t go for the movie, either. It earned a “C+” CinemaScore.

The top horror choice remained “Obsession,” the microbudget phenomenon by 26-year-old Curry Barker. In its sixth weekend, it nearly equaled its $17 million opening weekend from mid-May. The Focus Features release, which cost less than $1 million to make, added $14.2 million to bring its domestic total to $215.8 million and its global haul to $333.3 million.

With “Toy Story 5” and “Obsession” driving sales, the summer box office is up 15% from the 2025 summer, according to Rentrak. More impressively, summer ticket sales are nearly equal to the 2019 summer at the same point, not accounting for inflation. The summer to date is just 1.9% down from that year.

Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for Rentrak, expects that Hollywood is heading for its best summer since before the pandemic. And the success is coming from both expected and unexpected places.

“To me, this is a hybrid summer and this could be the new blueprint for how you build the perfect summer box-office beast,” says Dergarabedian. “You throw in a mix of very eclectic films and not just the usual suspects — the big franchise films, the known brands — but also films like ‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession’ and original films like ‘Disclosure Day.’”

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Entertainment

Co-Star Says Sam Neill Battled Pneumonia Before Death

Sam Neill arrives for a gala presentation of Blackbird at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 6, 2019. (Reuters)
Sam Neill arrives for a gala presentation of Blackbird at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 6, 2019. (Reuters)
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Co-Star Says Sam Neill Battled Pneumonia Before Death

Sam Neill arrives for a gala presentation of Blackbird at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 6, 2019. (Reuters)
Sam Neill arrives for a gala presentation of Blackbird at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 6, 2019. (Reuters)

Actor Sam Neill battled pneumonia before his unexpected death aged 78, a former co-star said Tuesday as some of Hollywood's biggest names mourned the "Jurassic Park" leading man.

Neill died in Australia on Monday, his family said in a statement that described the loss as "sudden and unexpected".

The New Zealander had undergone treatment for lymphoma in recent years but was cancer free, his family added without elaborating on the cause of his death.

New Zealand actor Rima Te Wiata, who starred opposite Neill in the widely acclaimed local comedy "Hunt for the Wilderpeople", said her friend was not scared of dying but he would be "annoyed".

"It really sucks, actually," she told the New Zealand Herald.

"I think he would be like: 'For goodness sake, I got over my cancer. And now look, now I get pneumonia. What next?'"

Te Wiata did not offer any more detail and it was unclear how recently Neill may have been sick with pneumonia.

Neill revealed in a 2023 memoir he was "possibly dying" with stage-three non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

But he declared himself cancer-free earlier this year, thanks to a genetic therapy that modified his immune system.

Director Steven Spielberg led Hollywood's tributes to Neill, who endeared himself to fans with a modest style that belied his fame.

"I adored making all the 'Jurassic' movies with him," said the "Jurassic Park" filmmaker.

"Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our 'Jurassic' family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world."

- 'True and noble' -

"Jurassic Park" co-star Laura Dern said Neill was a "true and noble gentleman", while Jeff Goldblum said Neill's "next great adventure begins".

Nicole Kidman, who acted alongside Neill in Australian thriller "Dead Calm", said "Sam was one of the greats".

And Cillian Murphy, who worked with Neill on "Peaky Blinders", said he "admired him and adored him in equal measure".

"He was one of the kindest, funniest and gentlest people, and one of the finest actors... RIP."

Neill was born in Northern Ireland in 1947 but moved to the rugged South Island of New Zealand as a child.

He was christened "Nigel John Dermot" but ditched the name in favor of "Sam" because he feared it was too "effete" for New Zealand.

Neill started acting in New Zealand films in the early 1970s before moving into larger roles in Australia.

His breakthrough came in 1993 when he played Dr. Alan Grant in blockbuster "Jurassic Park", which for a period was the highest-grossing film ever made.

At one point he was even touted to replace Roger Moore in the iconic "James Bond" franchise.

When he was not acting, Neill also ran vineyards in the picturesque Central Otago region of New Zealand's South Island.

Entertainment

Anya Taylor-Joy Is Bloodied and Battling in Apple TV’s Crime Thriller ‘Lucky’

This image released by Apple TV shows Anya Taylor-Joy in a scene from "Lucky." (Jessica Brooks/Apple TV via AP)
This image released by Apple TV shows Anya Taylor-Joy in a scene from "Lucky." (Jessica Brooks/Apple TV via AP)
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Anya Taylor-Joy Is Bloodied and Battling in Apple TV’s Crime Thriller ‘Lucky’

This image released by Apple TV shows Anya Taylor-Joy in a scene from "Lucky." (Jessica Brooks/Apple TV via AP)
This image released by Apple TV shows Anya Taylor-Joy in a scene from "Lucky." (Jessica Brooks/Apple TV via AP)

Anya Taylor-Joy finds herself in a familiar setting this summer: In the desert, fighting to stay alive.

She did it in “Furiosa” and the upcoming “Dune: Part Three.” Now she's under the blazing California sun for “Lucky,” a propulsive Apple TV crime thriller that has her trading blows with goons, bloodying her otherworldly face.

“Listen, I’ve been to the desert so many times at this point it’s kind of unreal. I don’t look like a desert creature, and yet I’m always there and I love it,” says the actor. “People like to see me struggle, and they like me to survive. And, luckily, I enjoy doing it, too, so it works out.”

Taylor-Joy plays the title character in an adaptation of Marissa Stapley's novel about a con artist who wakes up in a hotel room and realizes she's been betrayed by a close ally and is forced on the run.

Lucky is soon pursued by both the FBI and a ruthless crime boss over a missing $10 million. Her widowed father isn't much help: He raised her to be a criminal but is now behind bars, only helping from a phone call.

“She’s at an inflection point when we meet her in the book and in the show where she’s got to chart her own course. She’s got to take things into her own hands, and she’s got to really decide how she wants to live her life,” says Lauren Neustadter, an executive producer.

The seven-episode series premieres Wednesday, and even in the first episode, Lucky has to fight her way out the closed trunk of a car and slam a screwdriver into the neck of a bad guy, finding herself alone in the desert. “How can someone so small cause so much trouble?” a goon asks.

“We see this character evolve from beginning to end. She starts off being all about the con, and the question is, ‘Where will that go? How will she evolve and who will she become?’ And I think that it’s one of the things that makes this show so special,” says Neustadter.

The series co-stars Annette Bening, Drew Starkey and Timothy Olyphant, with a female-centric soundtrack that includes a stirring theme song by Fiona Apple and tunes by Sleater-Kinney and Siouxsie Sioux.

Bening plays a cold-blooded mob leader who gets stuck between trying to save her son and tangling with her brutal boss and former lover. She's as likely to order a killing as be executed herself.

“She is an abused woman and she’s an abuser,” Bening says. “So, she’s so intriguing. I thought the writing was really good. And I did want to play this kind of borderline sociopathic woman.”

Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine media company approached Taylor-Joy with the book, asking her to not just consider leading the series as an actor but also offering to make her debut as an executive producer.

“I remember crossing my fingers and thinking, ‘God, I really hope I like this book.’ And then I did and I fell in love with Lucky and I felt that I had something to contribute in this space, which I think if you’re coming on as an executive producer is the feeling that you want to have,” says Taylor-Joy.

The show — created by Jonathan Tropper and written and showrun alongside Cassie Pappas — is a crime thriller but with a family drama at its heart, one that prompts Lucky to wonder if there's another way to live.

“Thematically, that’s what Jonathan and I were really drawn to, is this idea of how much does family affect who you are versus how much can you break that path and write yourself a new one,” says Pappas.

Lucky has grown up grifting with her dad, stealing money-filled envelopes at birthday parties and faking injuries to get free hotel rooms. Now on the run, she leans into those skills to survive but also yearns for a better life.

“We all struggle against sort of the restraints of our past and the baggage we were given by even good parents and getting to a point where we can figure out who we are,” says Tropper. “Hers just has much higher stakes because the act of her trying to figure that out could get her killed.”

For Taylor-Joy, in addition to leaping off trucks, dodging killers and stealing cars onscreen, she got to make casting decisions and advise on the look and sound of the show behind the camera.

“I think we had a wonderful time making it, and I think you can feel that on the screen, despite the screwdrivers through the head,” she says with a laugh.

Entertainment

'Jurassic Park' Star Sam Neill Dies Aged 78

FILE PHOTO: Sam Neill attends a premiere of the television series 'Apples Never Fall', in Los Angeles, California, US March 12, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sam Neill attends a premiere of the television series 'Apples Never Fall', in Los Angeles, California, US March 12, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
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'Jurassic Park' Star Sam Neill Dies Aged 78

FILE PHOTO: Sam Neill attends a premiere of the television series 'Apples Never Fall', in Los Angeles, California, US March 12, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sam Neill attends a premiere of the television series 'Apples Never Fall', in Los Angeles, California, US March 12, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

Sam Neill, a smoothly elegant and versatile actor whose career moved from art film to blockbuster as he dodged velociraptors in “Jurassic Park” to playing Holly Hunter’s husband in “The Piano,” has died. He was 78.

In 2023, Neill disclosed he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Neill died on Monday in Sydney, according to a statement posted to the actor’s social media page.

His death was “sudden and unexpected,” the statement said, adding that he “remained cancer free” when he died. A cause of death wasn’t specified.

“Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterized his whole life,” his family wrote.

Neil was one of a host of actors and directors who achieved international fame after an explosion of Australian films that began in the late 1970s, a list that includes Paul Hogan, Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, Jane Campion, Peter Weir and Gillian Armstrong. His range was remarkable, playing opposite Helena Bonham Carter in the Alan Ayckbourn comedy “Sweet Revenge” to chopping off Hunter’s finger in “The Piano” to poking his own eyes out in the sci-fi horror “Event Horizon.”

In “Omen III: The Final Conflict,” he played Damien the Antichrist and he also played Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in “The Tudors.”

The actor first came to the attention of international audiences in Armstrong’s 1979 film “My Brilliant Career,” which also introduced Judy Davis. He later appeared in Phillip Noyce’s “Dead Calm,” a classy thriller set at sea and co-starring the then-relatively unknown Nicole Kidman.

Neill twice co-starred with Meryl Streep, in Australian director Fred Schepisi’s “Plenty” and — again for Schepisi — in “A Cry in the Dark,” a film about the sensationalized aftermath of a dingo killing a baby in the Australian Outback.

He earned an Emmy nomination for his performance in the title role of the 1998 mini-series “Merlin” and another as narrator of 2017’s “Wild New Zealand.”

But perhaps he achieved his highest level of fame in “Jurassic Park” playing paleontologist Alan Grant, who is summoned to an island off Costa Rica where a theme park has been built to house herds of cloned dinosaurs. He co-starred alongside Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough.

His character was thoughtful and reasonable, a scientist who warned the mastermind of the theme park before the chaos: “Dinosaurs and man, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea what to expect?”

Grant survived the harrowing events when the creatures get loose, but didn’t return for “The Lost World: Jurassic Park II” in 1997. He came back for the third episode in 2001 and “Jurassic World: Dominion” in 2022.

“It’s probably a little late to learn these things,” he told the Daily New of New York in 2001, “but I finally feel I’ve worked out how to be an action hero. I’m happier with Grant this time. He’s gnarly and grizzled, but he looks like he knows what he’s doing.”

Born in 1947 in Northern Ireland, Neill emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 7. His family settled in Dunedin on the South Island and he was sent to boarding school in Christchurch. After college, he took the lead in “Sleeping Dogs” in 1977, the first feature made in New Zealand in more than a decade.

Neill’s other film roles included playing a Soviet submarine officer who memorably dreams of a home in Montana in “The Hunt for Red October” and an investigator in director John Carpenter’s “In the Mouth of Madness.”

On the small screen, Neill played the malign Chester Campbell in TV’s “Peaky Blinders” and Thomas Jefferson in the four-hour CBS miniseries, “Sally Hemings: An American Tragedy.” On Apple TV+, he was on “Invasion,” playing Oklahoma Sheriff John Bell Tyson, a man late in his career searching for his purpose. In 2024 he starred opposite Annette Bening in the Peacock series “Apples Never Fall.”

His memoir “Did I Ever Tell You This?” came out in March 2023 and he was awarded a knighthood in recognition of his “outstanding contribution to film,” a title approved by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

“I can’t pretend that the last year hasn’t had its dark moments,” Neill told The Guardian in 2023, referring to his cancer diagnosis and treatment. “But those dark moments throw the light into sharp relief, you know, and have made me grateful for every day and immensely grateful for all my friends.”