Zootopia 2 Box Office Projections Reverse Troubling Disney Trend

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As a longtime Disney fan, it’s been a bit of a shock to see how 2025 has played out at the box office. Disney usually owns the top spot, but this year has been different. The live-action Lilo & Stitch remake did really well – it’s one of the biggest hits of the year, bringing in over a billion dollars worldwide. But honestly, most of their other movies haven’t lived up to expectations. Films like Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts and Elio didn’t perform as hoped, and even Tron: Ares – which came out in October – is looking like it’ll lose the studio a significant amount of money, around $100 million or more. Thankfully, there’s a lot of hope riding on Zootopia 2. I’m really counting on it to turn things around and give Disney the big comeback they need!

Sources say the new movie Zootopia 2, set to release November 26th (the day before Thanksgiving), is expected to earn over $125 million in the U.S. during its first five days. Although this is less than the $225.4 million earned by Moana 2 last Thanksgiving, it would still be a very successful opening and one of the biggest holiday weekends ever. If Zootopia 2 performs well, it could even become the second-highest-grossing Thanksgiving release of all time, surpassing Frozen 2.

Thanksgiving Releases Will Revitalize the Box Office

October was a surprisingly slow month for movie theaters – the worst in nearly three decades, not counting 2020. However, November is looking much brighter. While Predator: Badlands might not be a blockbuster this weekend (it’s expected to open with over $25 million), theaters are expecting a strong Thanksgiving season. Early predictions for Zootopia 2 follow promising estimates for Wicked: For Good, which could earn between $112 and $115 million domestically during its opening weekend and continue to perform well throughout the holidays. This sets the stage for similar success to last Thanksgiving, when Wicked and Moana 2 were huge hits.

As a huge animation fan, I wasn’t at all surprised to hear a Zootopia sequel is likely to be a big success. The first movie, released back in 2016, was a massive hit – it made over a billion dollars! I’ve always loved Zootopia; it’s one of Disney’s best, really standing out with its surprisingly mature story – it reminded me a lot of Pixar’s best work. So, naturally, a sequel has been highly anticipated, and the trailers for Zootopia 2 look fantastic – promising that same clever social commentary and fun, energetic animation that made the first film so special.

There’s a strong possibility that Zootopia 2 will earn over $1 billion at the box office, making it one of the year’s biggest hits. Currently, only Lilo & Stitch has reached that milestone among Hollywood films, with the Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 leading with $2 billion. Despite competition from the highly anticipated Wicked: For Good, Moana 2 demonstrated last year that both a Disney animated sequel and a Wicked movie can succeed. Deadline reports that pre-sale ticket numbers for Zootopia 2 are comparable to those of Pixar’s Inside Out 2, which also surpassed $1 billion last summer, suggesting a very promising future for the film.

Disney is poised for a very successful holiday season. The new film, Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third in the hugely popular Avatar series, is expected to be a major hit during the Christmas season, building on the success of the first two films which both earned over $2 billion. While it’s too soon to predict exact box office numbers, director James Cameron’s history suggests it will be a big draw. Even if Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash don’t perform as well as their previous installments, they should still help Disney finish a challenging year strongly.

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2025-11-06 22:40