Here’s Variety reporting that “Toy Story 5” has a budget of $250M, not including marketing costs. It might very well be tied as the most expensive animated film ever made, but with a few caveats.
The top spot is usually shared by “The Lion King” (2019) and “Tangled” (2010), both widely reported in the $250M range. These two sit at the extreme upper end of animation budgets, and “Toy Story 5” has joined them, in a tie, but without counting inflation.
I gather Tom Hanks and Tim Allen were paid a handsome sum to return for this fifth instalment — both their salaries alone would probably eat up anywhere between $30-$40M in costs.
“Toy Story 4” (2019) and “Incredibles 2” (2018) are commonly reported to be Pixar’s most expensive movies, around $200M each. Meanwhile, “Elio,” officially, had budget of $175M, but due to creative overhauls, director swapping, and major rewrites, rumors believed the real figure to be way above that, maybe even reaching the $300M mark.
The good news for “Toy Story 5” is that it’s destined to become a behemoth success. The latest tracking has it at $175M domestic opening, which would place it third highest in animation history. Hey, who knows, maybe tracking is a little off, and it can surpass the Pixar record set by “Incredibles 2” ($182M).
When it comes to its global opening, “Toy Story 5” is looking at around $315M+ worldwide and that’ll be a Pixar record. If we go by the 2.5x rule, the break-even point for “Toy Story 5” will be around $625M, a figure it can attain by its second weekend.
The review embargo on the film lifted yesterday, and word is fairly positive with a 74 on Metacritic and 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. Word of mouth will be positive. Suffice it to say, the extravagant budget was probably worth it for the movie as it stands to easily clear the $1 billion mark, and beyond.
Coppola lost more than $100M on "Megalopolis," got hammered for it, and he knows the clock is running out for one more film. If "Glimpses of the Moon" is that film, someone needs to write the check soon.