“Zootopia 2” filled the competition at the box office on Thanksgiving.
Disney’s animated sequel, a buddy-cop comedy about anthropomorphic animals, debuted with $156 million in North America and $400 million overseas, for a staggering total of $556 million worldwide. The family film, which opened Wednesday, cemented several records, including the fourth-largest worldwide box office debut in history (after “Avengers: Endgame,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home”), as well as the largest global debut of all time for an animated film.
“The incredible response to ‘Zootopia 2’ reflects both its global appeal and the remarkable 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 way to start the holiday season.”
“Zootopia 2” is boosting the box office, which has been in great difficulty since the summer. It was the second weekend in a row that theaters were booked and occupied after “Wicked: For Good” arrived before Thanksgiving with $147 million. The early success of “Zootopia 2” is also a necessary victory for Disney, which has had a string of theatrical duds, including Marvel’s “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” Pixar’s “Elio,” “Tron: Ares” and “Springsteen: Rescue Me From Nowhere.” After a difficult period, the studio will dominate the rest of the year with December’s “Zootopia 2” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard, the PG-rated “Zootopia 2” follows a bunny cop (Ginnifer Goodwin) and a fox conman (Jason Bateman) as they come together to pursue a mysterious new reptilian resident (Ke Huy Quan) in the city. The first “Zootopia” opened in March 2016 with $75 million in North America and became a huge success with $341 million domestically and $1.02 billion worldwide. With rave reviews and excellent word of mouth, “Zootopia 2” is poised to produce a similar result – and should easily become the second film of the year to surpass the billion-dollar mark after Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” in May.
“’Zootopia 2′ has a perfect release date, built-in brand recognition and a PG rating,” says Paul Dergarabedian, market trends manager at Comscore.
Here are all the opening weekend records:
Global
- Highest animated global opening of all time (based on current prices)
- Fourth largest worldwide opening of all time after “Avengers: Endgame” ($1.2 billion), “Avengers: Infinity War” ($630 million) and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” ($587 million)
- The world’s biggest debut of 2025
- Highest global opening ever for an animated sequel
- The largest global opening ever for Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Largest worldwide opening for an animated film in Disney’s 102-year history
- Highest opening weekend increase from original to sequel for any animated franchise (239%)
Domestic
- Second biggest Thanksgiving after ‘Moana 2’ ($28 million)
- Second biggest Thanksgiving opening ever (three days and five days) behind “Moana 2” ($139 million over three days and $225 million over five days)
- Second biggest Black Friday ever with $38.9 million behind “Moana 2” ($54.3 million)
- Second highest domestic pre-Thanksgiving Wednesday of all time with $39.3 million after “Moana 2” ($57.5 million)
- Second highest gross for Walt Disney Animation’s sequel with $10.2 million, behind “Moana 2” ($13.8 million) and ahead of “Frozen II” ($8.5 million)
China
- Sixth biggest debut of all time, including local and Hollywood titles
- Second best non-local film opening of all time behind “Avengers: Endgame” ($632 million)
- Highest animated opening ever for a non-local title
- Highest-grossing non-local film since 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame”
- Best non-local animated film of all time after five days of release
- Fourth highest-grossing animated film
- Already exceeded the total amount of Zootopia ($236 million) in five days
- The highest grossing ever for an MPA film with $104 million on Saturday, surpassing “Avengers: Endgame” ($79 million)
- Best opening for a Hollywood release in 2025
International
- Fourth highest international openness of all time
- Walt Disney Animation’s largest international opening of all time (based on current pricing in the same suite of markets)
- Highest animated international open of all time (based on current rates in the same suite of markets)
- Hollywood’s biggest international opening of 2025
