It would seem inexplicable.
Why, after seven years, would a “Toy Story” movie score $40 million more than its predecessor on opening weekend?
“Toy Story 5” made a whopping $160 million this weekend. Wow. An almost equal amount was logged internationally. Where did that come from?
Well, from its invisible star, Taylor Swift. She wrote the main song, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” which has 60 million streams on Spotify and 8.2 million views on YouTube. (We don’t know the actual sales yet, but the single is in the top 3 on iTunes.)
Swift’s marketing power is unparalleled. Beginning immediately after Memorial Day she started dropping hints to her fans that she’d recorded the song. By the time “I Knew It” dropped on June 5th, her Swifties were marshalled for war. It’s likely many of them had never heard of “Toy Story,” but the presence of Swift raised the recognition level to an all time high.
How many Swifties went to the movie this weekend just to hear their favorite singer? I’m sure soon we’ll know. But nothing else would account for such a renewed interest in a shop worn brand. Without Swift, a new “Toy Story” would have come in equal to or a little under the numbers of the 2019 movie.
What does Swift get out of it? Ka-ching, baby. Now she can pay for that Madison Square Garden wedding on July 3rd. Sit down dinner for 500 people? Concert for 1,000? Easy peazy now!
