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.