Zootopia 2 Box Office Stuns Hollywood With $39.5 Million Launch as Disney Finally Finds a Win

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The release of Zootopia 2 has been a welcome boost for the film industry, which has been hoping for positive news. Disney’s sequel had a strong start, earning $39.5 million on its first full day and quickly becoming the most popular movie during the Thanksgiving holiday period.

Movie theaters have faced a tough few months, so this is a welcome change – and it comes at a key time for Disney animation, which has been working to regain its popularity after a slump.

A Blowout Start Heading Into a Crowded Holiday Weekend

According to Variety, Zootopia 2 is expected to earn between $125 million and $150 million during the five-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend. This is a strong start that should easily make it the highest-grossing film of the weekend. Although it won’t surpass the record set by Moana 2 ($225 million) during the pandemic, Zootopia 2 is still projected to have one of the best Thanksgiving box office openings ever.

For comparison:

  • Frozen II posted $125 million over five days.
  • The Hunger Games: Catching Fire hit $109 million in the same frame.
  • The Moana 2 benchmark remains untouched at $225 million.

Even so, Disney hasn’t seen an opening this promising in months.

2025 Has Been a Disaster for Disney

Projects meant to anchor Disney’s slate in 2025 instead became cautionary tales.

Despite a lot of hype, Snow White didn’t capture the public’s imagination. Similarly, Marvel’s new Fantastic Four movie underperformed and didn’t breathe fresh life into the franchise.

Both Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts failed to excite audiences or reverse the recent downturn in performance for Marvel movies. Despite being heavily promoted, neither film managed to recapture the momentum the MCU had previously enjoyed.

Beyond its superhero films, Disney’s other releases didn’t perform well either. Tron: Ares didn’t attract much of an audience despite the recognizable title, and the costly Pixar movie Elio added to a string of disappointments for the studio, which was really hoping for a success.

Looking at these releases together, it became clear that the studio, once known for consistently successful films, was now having trouble resonating with viewers in almost all areas.

Although most of Disney’s 2025 releases didn’t perform well, one film was a clear success: the live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch. Unlike other movies from Marvel, Pixar, or Walt Disney Animation Studios, Lilo & Stitch really resonated with viewers, earned positive buzz, and achieved the box office numbers Disney had hoped for.

A single disappointing film after a year of big releases showed how much the company had lost its previous reliable success—and made the incredibly successful opening of Zootopia 2 feel especially important.

A Global Boost Disney Desperately Needed

Worldwide, Zootopia 2 is performing exceptionally well. It made $41.6 million internationally on Wednesday, bringing its total earnings to $81.1 million before it even opened in the U.S. Experts predict the film will earn between $135 million and $145 million from international markets in its first five days.

China, known for carefully choosing which American movies to show, really welcomed the sequel – more so than many recent Hollywood films.

As a big movie fan, I was really impressed to hear that the film opened to a huge $33.7 million! That puts it at number ten for biggest opening days ever domestically. What’s even cooler is how perfectly timed it was with the new Zootopia Land opening at Shanghai Disneyland – you don’t often see Disney pull off that kind of seamless connection between a movie and its theme park attractions these days.

A Lifeline for Theaters After a Painful Fall

Movie exhibitors have admitted this season has been difficult, pointing to films like The Smashing Machine and Tron: Ares as disappointments in a lineup that kept audiences away from theaters. The release of Zootopia 2, along with the continued success of Wicked: For Good, is expected to help turn things around.

The Broadway show sequel from Universal earned $17.2 million on Wednesday, bringing its total domestic earnings to $194.6 million. Experts predict it will reach almost $270 million by the end of the holiday period.

In other words: audiences are finally returning in force.

The Big Picture

Disney is hoping Zootopia 2 will be a success, and early box office numbers suggest it might be. The film had a strong opening weekend in the US and is performing well internationally, with generally positive reviews. This could be a major win for Disney, especially for their animation studio, which has been looking for a solid hit.

If current projections hold, Zootopia 2 could mark Disney’s most important release of the year.

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2025-11-28 17:57