In just a few days, Zootopia 2 became one of the biggest successes in the history of animated cinema. The Disney film had a thunderous start to $556 million worldwide, surpassing all expectations. It ranks directly in fourth place among the best global launches of all time, just behind the juggernauts Avengers: Endgame, Infinity War and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Buoyed by a warm reception during the Thanksgiving weekend in the United States, Zootopia 2 collected $156 million on American soil. But it is internationally, and particularly in China, that the phenomenon has taken on considerable proportions, with 400 million dollars collected abroad. Enough to shatter several records for Disney Animation Studios.
A shower of records for Disney Animation
Zootopia 2 doesn’t just have a good launch. It won a series of historic distinctions: best global launch for an animated film (all markets and current prices), best foreign launch in China for an animated film, but also best launch of the year 2025, all categories combined. Never has an animated sequel grossed so much in its first days.
At this rate, a billion dollars in revenue is no longer a goal, but a certainty. “Zootopia 2 is now assured of becoming a billion-dollar-plus film at the box office.” A feat that propels the Disney studio into an already promising end to the year with the imminent release of Avatar: Fire and Ashes scheduled for December.
An animal investigation at the heart of social tensions
What appeals to both spectators and critics is Zootopia 2’s ability to mix humor, police investigation and societal themes. The sequel takes up the endearing duo of Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, now figures of the ZPD, confronted with a new major case. IGN, which gives the film an 8/10, points out: “Zootopia 2 returns the ZPD’s first-ever rabbit-fox detective duo on the case for some of the most important issues facing us as a society, and they’ve brought back all the animal puns with them.”
The return of this colorful universe, mixed with a committed underlying message, seems to have reached a wide audience, children and adults alike. The success also goes beyond the usual circles of fans of animated films.
Disney on its way to total holiday domination
With such a start, Disney may already have the biggest success of the year. And it’s not over: the studio is betting big on Avatar: Fire and Ashes, the sequel to the adventures of Pandora, which is scheduled for release on December 19. If this new part confirms the performance of the previous episodes (2.3 billion for The Way of Water), Disney could well dominate the global box office until 2026.
Meanwhile, the competition is struggling to keep up: Wicked: For Good accumulates 393 million dollars, Predator: Badlands reaches 174 million, and The Running Man, with only 61 million, strongly disappoints. Faced with this avalanche of figures, Zootopia 2 already appears to be the unmissable cinema event of this end of year.