Toy Story 4 becomes fifth Disney film to cross $1 bn mark at global box office in 2019

Disney-Pixar’s  Toy Story 4   has surpassed the $1 billion mark at the global box office. It has thus become the fifth Disney film to enter the $ 1 billion club in 2019, setting the record for being the first studio to have five films churning over $ 1 billion in a single year. The animated film is also the fourth Pixar movie ever to rake up a billion dollars. [caption id=“attachment_6852181” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Toy Story 4. Image from Twitter[/caption] According to Deadline, Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, two films slated to hit screens this year, are also projected to cross the one-billion-dollar mark. _(Read: Disney has earned $7.67 bn in 2019 so far, breaking its own annual global box office record)_ The other titles to have swum past the $1 billion for Disney are Captain Marvel ($1.1 billion_), Avengers: Endgame ($2.795 billion), The Lion King ($1.3 billion),_ and Aladdin ($1.03 billion). Disney’s acquisition of Fox as well as the launch of its hotly-anticipated streaming service, Disney+, has enabled it to become one of the most commercially viable studios. Globally, Toy Story 4 minted more than $238 million during its opening weekend, out of which $118 million was collected from the US markets alone. According to  The Hollywood Reporter, Toy Story 4 was predicted to open in the US within a $140 million-$165 million range. Hindustan Times  notes that the film also secured a perfect 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite the overwhelmingly positive reviews, the film failed to rake in the big bucks during the initial weeks of its release. Toy Story 4, however, is the highest earning instalment in the franchise. The film also had the fourth-highest opening ever for an animated movie, after Incredibles 2 ($182 million) in 2018, Finding Dory ($135 million) in 2016, and Shrek the Third ($121 million) in 2007, not adjusted for inflation. Toy Story 4 is also the third highest opening film of 2019, that crossed the $ 100 million mark in its launch, behind Avengers: Endgame and Captain Marvel.  Toy Story 4 picks up from where the last film left off, with Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the rest of the gang now living with Bonnie. They encounter Forky (voiced by Tony Hale), a spork-turned-craft-project, who is Bonnie’s new favorite toy. Directed by Josh Cooley, and produced by Jonas Rivera and Mark Nielsen, Toy Story 4 released on 21 June.