A needless sci-fi spinoff that shocked nobody by imploding at the box office burns up in the streaming atmosphere

There was widespread (and entirely justified) skepticism when it was first announced that Disney and Pixar would risk tainting the near-perfect ending of Toy Story 3 by churning out a fourth installment, but the decision ended up being a wise one from a critical and commercial point of view. Lightyear, on the other hand, was nowhere near as lucky.

Right from the off, there weren’t a great deal of people convinced that a spinoff set in a world where Buzz Lightyear is a real Space Ranger needed to exist, especially when Tim Allen was nudged out in favor of Chris Evans – which stirred up all sorts of feelings from a generation who couldn’t comprehend the fact Woody’s plastic frenemy was disarmingly hot now.

Set in a fictional universe set within a fictional universe, Lightyear‘s mere existence was an Inception-level event, albeit one that died a death at the box office. On production costs estimated to be hovering around the $200 million mark, enthusiastic enough reviews weren’t enough to prevent the animated blockbuster from ending up in the red to the tune of nine figures after it petered out with a mere $226 million in the coffers.

Lightyear was something nobody wanted, needed, or asked for, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise it died a slow and painful death on the big screen. Nonetheless, it has at least shown some legs on streaming, with the misguided misfire having re-orbited the streaming ranks without burning up in the atmosphere.

Per FlixPatrol, Lightyear is a Top 10 hit on Disney Plus in 15 countries around the world, as well as a resident of the Rakuten charts. Fun if entirely forgettable, the movie’s failure was a serious dent for the Toy Story brand.