June 21, 2026 · 10:07 AM
Hollywood Weekly: Toy Story 5 Soars, Netflix Grabs Sesame Street, and Ariana Tears Up L.A.
Pixar's Toy Story 5 is headed for the year's biggest opening, Netflix wins the Sesame Street movie rights, and Ariana Grande gets emotional during her L.A. tour stop. Plus: Taylor Swift's Toy Story song, the Duffer brothers' Paramount era, streaming-chart weirdness, awards dates, and Hollywood's production-flight anxiety.
This week, Pixar turned the summer box office into a family reunion, Netflix picked up a very furry piece of IP, and L.A. got another reminder that Hollywood's production problem is not going away. Here's the quick scan for June 15-21.
1. Toy Story 5 aims for the biggest opening of 2026
Toy Story 5 blasted out of the gate with a $71 million opening day, putting it just behind Incredibles 2 for the biggest animated first day ever. THR reported the Pixar sequel is tracking toward a domestic opening in the $160 million range, while Disclosure Day is dropping hard in weekend two and Obsession is still holding like a champ at about $215 million domestic. Read more ↗
2. Deadline sees a $160M-$170M franchise record for Pixar
Deadline's Saturday numbers were even punchier: a projected $160 million-$170 million three-day start, a franchise record and the second-biggest animated opening ever if the estimate holds. The weekend also gave box office watchers a packed top five, with Disclosure Day, Obsession, Backrooms, and Scary Movie all still doing meaningful business.
Loading stats card…
3. Taylor Swift turns Toy Story into Oscar-song chatter
Taylor Swift said she saw Toy Story 5, got "the songwriter zoomies," and wrote the end-credit song "I Knew It, I Knew You" the same day. THR notes the Jack Antonoff co-write has already hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 and is drawing early best original song buzz, which means Pixar's box office story now has a full pop-superstar subplot. Read more ↗
4. Netflix wins the Sesame Street movie rights
Netflix landed the feature-film rights to Sesame Street after a bidding contest, adding the movie side to the TV rights it picked up in 2025. Rideback, the company behind Disney's live-action Lilo & Stitch and Aladdin, is producing with Sesame Workshop involved; no filmmaker is attached yet. Read more ↗
5. The Duffer brothers get a Paramount date and a Netflix sting
Paramount dated Matt and Ross Duffer's mystery event film for Nov. 3, 2028, the first big theatrical marker from their post-Stranger Things era. A few days later, THR framed Netflix's quick cancellation of the Duffers-produced The Boroughs as a chilly bit of timing, while Supergirl enjoyed an early wave of positive social reactions. Read more ↗
6. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow lands a 2027 release
Paramount set Gabrielle Zevin adaptation Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow for Nov. 12, 2027. Daisy Edgar-Jones stars, and CODA filmmaker Siân Heder is directing and writing from earlier drafts by Mark Bomback and Zevin. Read more ↗
7. George Lucas joins the Minions universe
George Lucas will voice a character in Illumination's Minions & Monsters, which opens July 1. Illumination chief Chris Meledandri told Collider that Lucas' fondness for the Despicable Me movies helped make the cameo happen, and THR notes the franchise has earned nearly $5 billion worldwide. Read more ↗
8. Ariana Grande gets emotional in L.A.
Ariana Grande paused her Eternal Sunshine Tour stop at Crypto.com Arena to thank the crowd, wiping away tears as she called the response "so overwhelming in the most beautiful way ever." The L.A. dates doubled as a celebrity magnet, with Kim Kardashian, Emma Roberts, John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, and Addison Rae among the faces spotted at the run. Read more ↗
9. Streaming charts give The Boroughs one awkward victory lap
THR Charts had one of the week's stranger timing twists: Nielsen's latest streaming numbers showed The Boroughs with a strong premiere week just after Netflix canceled it. The same update had Netflix documentary The Crash leading the movie chart with 1.18 billion viewing minutes, while Dutton Ranch improved on Paramount+ and Off Campus grew 34 percent on Prime Video.
Loading stats card…
10. L.A. production anxiety gets louder
Variety's deep dive on Hollywood's production flight used the Baywatch reboot as the perfect L.A. headache: a show built around beaches still had to fight through local rules about trucks, fires, and sand access. The bigger picture is rougher: ProdPro counted 81 film and TV projects in California in the first quarter of 2026, while Variety says the U.S. has lost 73,000 production jobs since the streaming bubble peaked in 2022, two-thirds of them in Los Angeles.
Loading stats card…
11. Awards season gets its next calendar pins
Deadline's updated awards calendar has Primetime Emmy nominations on July 8, the Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 14, the Governors Awards on Nov. 10, Golden Globe nominations on Dec. 7, and Oscar nominations on Jan. 21, 2027. Translation for casual viewers: the summer box office may be loud right now, but awards machinery is already warming up. Read more ↗
Add more perspectives or context around this Post.