Disney’s Biggest Animated Movie Ever Breaks One Last Box Office Record

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After a disappointing year for movie ticket sales, Disney came back strong in late 2025 with two big hits: Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash. Both films earned over $1 billion worldwide – along with the live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch. Zootopia 2 was especially successful, breaking box office records and becoming Disney’s highest-grossing animated film ever, thanks in part to a surprisingly strong opening in China. Now, as the film finishes its run in theaters, it’s achieved one final impressive milestone.

As reported by Variety, Zootopia 2 has earned $424.2 million in the U.S., making it the highest-grossing movie released in 2025 so far. It just surpassed A Minecraft Movie ($424.08 million). This marks the second year in a row a Disney animated film has topped the domestic box office, following Inside Out 2‘s success in 2024.

After Record-Breaking Box Office Success, the Zootopia Franchise Has a Bright Future

Although Disney hasn’t officially confirmed a third Zootopia movie, it seems very likely one is coming. The second film was a huge success, and the filmmakers cleverly set up a potential sequel with a post-credits scene suggesting new bird characters would arrive in Zootopia. Given how successful and imaginative the Zootopia series has become, Disney will probably start working on a third installment soon.

While we hope it won’t take ten years, fans may still have to wait a bit for the next Zootopia movie. Animated films require a lot of time to make, and Disney already has several projects in the works. Hexed is coming this fall, and Frozen 3 is scheduled for November 2027. Considering this, Zootopia 3 likely won’t premiere until 2028 – or even later – as the creators need time to develop the story and complete the complex production process. Previous Disney sequels, like those for Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph, were released six years apart, and Moana 2 came out eight years after the first Moana. Everyone involved wants to make sure Zootopia 3 is great, so they won’t rush it.

Despite a year of some box office disappointments like Tron: Ares, Captain America: Brave New World, and Elio, Disney finished 2025 strong with Zootopia 2. The studio ultimately released three of the year’s five highest-grossing films domestically. Avatar: Fire and Ash is also performing well, and is expected to surpass $400 million at the U.S. box office, making it one of only four films from 2025 to reach that milestone.

Disney animated films could dominate the box office for three years in a row. This summer’s release of Toy Story 5 is expected to be a major success in 2026. While Pixar hasn’t been as consistently strong lately, its sequels still attract large audiences, and Toy Story is a particularly profitable series. Both Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4 earned over $1 billion worldwide, with Toy Story 3 being the top-grossing domestic film of 2010 and Toy Story 4 ranking third in 2019. Despite several other anticipated releases this year, Toy Story 5 is likely to be a high performer.

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2026-02-25 22:42