‘Zootopia 2’ Sprints To Biggest Global Animated Opening Of All Time, Fueled By Massive Chinese Turnout

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia 2 charged into theaters over Thanksgiving weekend, rewriting the record books and bringing much-needed relief to cinemas suffering from anemic year-to-date box office.

Directed by returning Oscar-winning duo Jared Bush and Byron Howard, the sequel reunites audiences with Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) as they’re pulled back into a high-stakes investigation, this time involving a mysterious new reptilian resident voiced by Ke Huy Quan.

Powered by a massive global debut estimated at $556 million, the sequel not only surpassed industry expectations but also became a defining moment in a hopeful 2025 box office rebound. That figure ranks fourth-highest globally, behind three Marvel movies, the biggest global debut of 2025, and the highest global animation opening in Disney’s history.

Here’s a breakdown of how the film performed domestically and abroad, with special attention to China, where it enjoyed a particularly fruitful debut.

Domestic: A Thanksgiving Powerhouse

Zootopia 2 delivered the second-biggest Thanksgiving opening in history, trailing only Disney’s Moana 2 across both its three-day and five-day frames. Z2’s $156 million domestic haul includes a herd of near-record achievements, among them:

• Second-biggest Thanksgiving Day ever
• Second-largest Black Friday on record with $38.9 million
• One of Disney Animation’s strongest preview nights ($10.2 million)

For Disney, the sequel’s performance marks a crucial turning point after a year marked by underperforming titles. The studio now heads into December with momentum as Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash position the company for a dominant holiday corridor.

With excellent audience reception — the film scored an A on CinemaScore and a 91% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 95% verified audience score — Zootopia 2’s domestic legs should be equally impressive. Even with a more conservative multiplier than the original’s impressive 4.5x, forecasts suggest that Zootopia 2 could end well above $450–$500 million domestically.

For Bush, who is not only the film’s director but also Walt Disney Animation Studios’ new chief creative officer, Zootopia 2’s success is a major win and establishes an incredible foundation on which he can build, at least in terms of exploiting established IPs. There will, of course, still be questions looming about whether he and the studio can find a similar mojo with original titles, something that has plagued not only Disney but most major studios in recent years.

International: The Biggest Animated Launch Ever

Outside North America, Zootopia 2 delivered a colossal $400 million international opening, locking down several all-time benchmarks:

• Highest international animated opening ever
• Fourth-highest international opening of any film in history
• Largest overseas debut for Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Biggest Hollywood international opening of 2025

The film dominated every major market, thanks to strong brand recognition and excellent word of mouth. After China, by far the standout (more on that late), the top territories included:

• France – $14.6 million
• South Korea – $13.7 million
• Mexico – $10.4 million
• Germany – $8.8 million

The sequel’s success also powered Imax’s biggest Thanksgiving in company history, with Zootopia 2 contributing $32 million globally, including $24.5 million internationally. It now stands as Imax’s best animated launch ever.

With the holidays ahead and limited competition until another Disney release, Avatar: Fire and Ash, the film’s international run could hit bonkers numbers. Box office trackers suggest a multiplier in the 2.5–3x range could push the film to a global cume of $1.4–$1.7 billion, far ahead of the original’s $1 billion total.

China: A Record-Shattering Phenomenon

The film’s most astonishing performance came from China, where Zootopia 2 pulled in $272 million for the sixth-largest debut in Chinese box-office history and the second-largest ever for a non-local film, behind only Avengers: Endgame.

Last week, Chinese box office tracker Maoyan reported fantastic presales for the film, so its success isn’t entirely surprising. Especially considering how extensively the franchise’s popularity has grown since the first film’s debut in 2016, with Shanghai Disneyland opening a Zootopia Land theme park in 2023 and a series of animated shorts set in the Zootopia universe released on Chinese social media platforms earlier this month.

Here are Zootopia’s notable achievements across its first five days in Chinese theaters:

• Highest animated opening ever for a non-Chinese title
• Top-grossing non-Chinese film since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame
• Highest-grossing non-Chinese animated film of all time in China after only five days
• Fourth-highest-grossing animated film ever released in China (local or imported)
• Highest single-day gross ever for a Motion Picture Association film, with a record $104 million on Saturday
• Already surpassed the lifetime total of the first Zootopia ($236M) within days
• Best opening for a Hollywood film in 2025

Demand was so intense that the film delivered China’s ninth-highest single-day gross of all time, and accounted for the majority of Imax’s global weekend. Its arrival also spiked China’s overall weekend box office to nearly $230 million, a massive jump from the prior week, reinforcing how deeply the franchise resonates with Chinese audiences.