Pixar has had one of its strongest box office years in recent memory in 2026, and that success is now generating anticipation for the studio's next original release.
According to Screen Rant, Pixar released two films to theaters this year: Toy Story 5 and an original film called Hoppers. Toy Story 5 performed as expected, pulling in crowds worldwide and grossing more than double its production budget as of June 28. The bigger story, however, is Hoppers.
The original film exceeded expectations by earning over $380 million against a $150 million budget. That result matters because Pixar's original films have struggled commercially for several years. Soul, Luca, and Turning Red were all sent directly to Disney+ during the COVID-19 pandemic and never received wide theatrical releases. That pattern shifted audience habits, with many viewers coming to see Disney+ as the default way to watch new Pixar films rather than buying a theater ticket.
When Pixar did return originals to theaters, the results were uneven. Elemental performed adequately but fell short of the studio's historical benchmarks for original properties. Elio was a more significant disappointment. Those results led to speculation that Pixar might pivot toward sequels, which have consistently outperformed original titles.
Hoppers appears to have interrupted that trend. The film's performance shows that audiences are willing to return to theaters for new Pixar stories, not just familiar franchises.
That momentum is now pointing toward Gatto, the studio's next original project, scheduled for release on March 5, 2027. The teaser trailer has already collected more than three million views. The film is described as a Godfather-like story featuring cats.
Whether Hoppers represents a genuine turning point or a single outlier remains to be seen, but the studio heads into 2027 with more commercial confidence than it has had in years.
