It’s been over four years since Toy Story fans last flocked to theaters around the world for the fourth installment in the hit film franchise.
And as a result, Toy Story 4 reached the billion-dollar milestone at the box office for the second year in a row.
In a new interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallonone of the two main stars, Tim Allen, all but confirmed that he and co-star Tom Hanks will be in character again in the not-so-distant future.
“Bob Iger, head of Disney, said it was going ahead,” Allen, 70, told host Jimmy Fallon. “He actually said it was going to happen. They contacted Tom and me to reprise the roles. They don’t say anything about it.’
He then expressed some hesitation about making a fifth part, which received a huge applause from the live studio audience.
‘To Infinity And Beyond!’: Tim Allen, 70, revealed that Disney head Bob Iger contacted him and co-star Tom Hanks about doing Toy Story 5
‘For people like me, it’s like being a science fiction fanatic. You wonder if four wasn’t too many? Must be five too many,” Allen admitted.
In another sign that a Toy Story 5 movie will happen, the former Home Improvement star revealed how the screenwriter bragged about the new storyline.
“According to the scuttlebutts, the writer who does it wrote one of the better ones and he said, ‘If I didn’t do this right, I wouldn’t do it,'” the actor and comedian continued, before adding, “So it would could be a very, very interesting way to reunite it.”
Allen is the man behind Buzz Lightyear. a Space Ranger action figure, while Tom Hanks plays the voice of Woody, a pull-string cowboy doll.
As the pair reprise their roles, the duo will have to go on an adventure to find each other, as Woody traded Bonnie’s house for the fair to stay with Bo Peep (Annie Potts) at the end of Toy Story 4.
The Toy Story franchise has been a major hit for Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures at the worldwide box office, starting with the original Toy Story (1995), which grossed $394.4 million against a $30 million budget.
But if statisticians adjust gross inflation for inflation over the years, that total amounts to about $757 million in today’s dollars.
John Lasseter returned to the director’s chair for the first sequel, and fans reciprocated their love for the characters enough to shoot the gross for Toy Story 2 (1999) to $512 million on a $90 budget.
The green light: “Bob Iger, head of Disney, said it was on,” Allen revealed during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “He actually said it was going to happen. They contacted Tom and me to reprise the roles. They don’t say anything about it
Teaser: In a sign that Issue 5 will be another hit, Allen told Fallon that the writer who created the screenplay for Toy Story 5 described it as “one of the better ones,” according to the scuttlebutts
Huge franchise hit: After scoring hits with the first two Toy Story films in the franchise, fans flocked to theaters for the final two installments, enough to both surpass the $1 billion mark
Preview: It has been more than four years since the last film franchise came out
By the time Toy Story 3 (2010) was released some eleven years later, fans couldn’t seem to get enough of the animated films, as the third installment grossed a whopping $1.067 billion from a $200 million budget.
Toy Story 4 (2019) would hold its own at the global box office, topping the major money milestone once again, with $1.073 billion, while spending another $200 million on the budget.
Along with Allen and Hanks, the cast of the four films in the franchise so far includes the voices of Laurie Metcalf, Annie Potts, John Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, Joan Cusack, Michael Keaton, Kelsey Grammer and Wayne Knight. Jodi Benson, John Morris, among others.
Sadly, four of the stars: Jim Varney, Don Rickles, Ned Beatty and Estelle Harris have now passed away.