Zootopia 2 filled the Thanksgiving box office race.
Disney’s animated sequel, an anthropomorphic buddy-cop comedy, opened to $156 million in North America and $400 million overseas, and went on to gross an astonishing $556 million worldwide. The family film, which was released on Wednesday, set several records, including the fourth highest-grossing world premiere in history (behind Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, and Spider-Man: No Way Home) and the largest worldwide opening ever for an animated film.
“The incredible response to Zootopia 2 reflects both its global appeal and the incredible work of our filmmakers and cast,” said Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment. “This is a proud moment for Disney Animation and all of us at Disney, not to mention a great start to the holiday season.”
“Zootopia 2” has significantly increased its box office revenue, which had been struggling since the summer. It was the second consecutive weekend that theaters were booked out since “Wicked: For Good” opened before Thanksgiving and grossed $147 million. The initial turnout for “Zootopia 2” is a much-needed victory for Disney, which has produced a series of theatrically missed films, including Marvel’s “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” Pixar’s “Elio,” “Tron: Ares,” and “Springsteen: Delivered From Anywhere.” After a difficult period, the studio will dominate the rest of the season with “Zootopia 2” and December’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard, the PG-rated “Zootopia 2” follows a rabbit police officer (Ginnifer Goodwin) and a con-artist fox (Jason Bateman) as they reunite to hunt down a mysterious reptilian (Ke Hui Quan) living in their city. The original Zootopia was released in March 2016 in North America for $75 million, becoming a huge hit with $341 million domestically and $1.02 billion worldwide. With great reviews and strong word of mouth, “Zootopia 2” is poised to deliver similar results and should become the second movie of the year to cross $1 billion, following Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” in May.
“Zootopia 2 has the perfect release date, built-in brand awareness, and a PG rating,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Head of Marketplace Trends at Comscore.
The full opening weekend record is below.
global
Highest worldwide opening in animation history (based on current ratings) 4th worldwide opening of all time behind Avengers: Endgame ($1.2 billion), Avengers: Infinity War ($630 million) and Spider-Man: No Way Home ($587 million) Best global opening ever for an animated sequel for a 2025 world premiere Biggest worldwide opening ever for Walt Disney Animation Studios Biggest worldwide opening ever for an animated feature Disney’s largest opening weekend increase from original to sequel (239%) of any animated series in its 102-year history
Domestic
Second largest Thanksgiving opening ($28 million) after “Moana 2” Second largest Thanksgiving opening (3 and 5 days) in history after “Moana 2” ($139 million for 3 days, $225 million for 5 days) Second largest Black Friday opening in history with $38.9 million after “Moana 2” ($54.3 million) $39.3 million ($57.5 million), the second highest grossing Black Friday in history on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, after “Moana 2” ($54.3 million) It was the second-highest preview box office gross for a Walt Disney Animation sequel with $10.2 million, behind Moana 2 ($13.8 million) and ahead of Frozen II ($8.5 million).
China
6th highest opening of all time, including local titles and Hollywood titles 2nd highest opening of all time for a non-local film, behind “Avengers: Endgame” ($632 million) Highest opening of any non-local title in animation history Highest box office gross for a non-local film since 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame” Highest box office gross for a non-local animated film in history within 5 days of release 4th highest grossing animated film in 5 days ($236 million), already surpassing Zootopia’s cumulative total; Saturday’s single-day box office gross for an MPA movie was $104 million, surpassing “Avengers: Endgame” ($79 million), making it the highest opening for a Hollywood release in 2025
international
4th highest international opening of all time Walt Disney Animation’s largest international opening of all time (based on current rates in the same set of markets) Highest international opening of all time for international animation (based on current rates in the same set of markets) Largest Hollywood international opening of 2025
