Disney’s Sequel to $1Bn Animated Hit Breaks a 6-Year Box Office Record (& It’s Huge for Hollywood’s Future)

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Movie theaters saw a significant increase in ticket sales this past weekend thanks to the hugely successful opening of Wicked: For Good, and that positive trend is expected to continue through the Thanksgiving holiday. This week brings the release of Zootopia 2, the long-awaited sequel from Disney, which is predicted to also open very strongly. In the US, Zootopia 2 is forecast to have one of the biggest five-day opening weekends of the year, potentially exceeding $125 million. The film is also expected to perform well internationally, and is currently one of the few movies scheduled for release in 2025 with a genuine chance of earning over $1 billion worldwide. Recent records broken by Zootopia 2 suggest it’s even more likely to reach that impressive goal.

Film industry experts on X, including Luiz Fernando and @meJat32, report that Zootopia 2 has achieved record-breaking pre-sales in China, becoming the highest-grossing Hollywood film in pre-sales since the start of the pandemic. It has already earned $34.3 million in early ticket sales, surpassing the previous record of $30.1 million held by F9. If the film continues to perform well, it could potentially earn around $200 million from its opening weekend in China, which would be a major success for the movie industry.

Zootopia 2 Could Signal a Comeback for the Chinese Box Office

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, China became a crucial market for Hollywood films. This was a major reason why so many movies earned over $1 billion worldwide in the 2010s—including nine in 2019 alone—as American blockbusters found a large audience there. For example, Avengers: Endgame made an impressive $632.1 million in China, which would have been enough to make it the second-highest-grossing film in the US for that year. While other Hollywood hits didn’t reach Endgame‘s numbers, they still performed very well: The Lion King earned $120.4 million, Spider-Man: Far From Home made $198.9 million, and Captain Marvel brought in $154 million.

Hollywood films haven’t been doing as well in China recently. While some, like Avatar: The Way of Water ($245.9 million), still succeed, studios can no longer count on Chinese box office revenue to significantly boost their global earnings. This year, Captain America: Brave New World only made $14.3 million in China, a huge drop from the $180.7 million earned by Captain America: Civil War. Thunderbolts fared similarly, bringing in just $16 million. If these Marvel films had performed closer to pre-2020 levels, they might have been considered modest successes instead of disappointments, and would have given a more positive impression of the current Multiverse Saga.

Recently, big-budget movies haven’t been doing as well in theaters for a lot of reasons – people’s tastes are changing, reviews are mixed, movies are available to stream sooner, and so on. But a major factor has been the drop in ticket sales in China. It would be fantastic if Chinese theaters fully recovered, as they used to be a huge source of revenue. While we probably won’t see a year with nine billion-dollar movies like 2019 again, strong sales in China could mean the difference between a movie losing money and becoming profitable. Since franchises like Marvel, DC, and Star Wars will keep making new films, studios would greatly benefit from being able to reliably count on the Chinese box office, even with strategies in place to boost ticket sales.

The success of Zootopia 2 will give us a good indication of whether the Chinese film market is returning to pre-pandemic levels, or if it’s just a one-off success. The original Zootopia did very well in China, earning $236 million, so high expectations surround the sequel. However, the true test will come with the release of other major films. Avatar: Fire and Ash is expected to perform well, and several highly anticipated 2026 blockbusters will be key in determining if the Chinese box office has truly recovered. If sci-fi and superhero movies resonate with Chinese audiences, it will be a positive sign for the entire film industry.

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2025-11-25 18:40