Zootopia 2 has broken a major box office record as it officially became Walt Disney Animation's highest-grossing film in history, so how did it manage to nab the impressive achievement?
Since its release last Thanksgiving, the highly anticipated Disney animated sequel has become a major global box office success, as many people flocked to theaters to witness Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps' next adventure. Shakira's song, "Zoo," has also topped the charts and become a trending song on social media.
How Zootopia 2 Became the Highest-Grossing Disney Animated Movie of All Time
Variety confirmed that Zootopia 2 is now Walt Disney Animation’s highest-grossing movie in history. It already grossed $1.46 billion worldwide as of today.
The record was previously held by another Disney sequel, Frozen II, which has a worldwide box office gross of $1.45 billion when it was released in 2019.
You might be wondering how the film managed to break such an impressive box office record. All the credit goes to the international markets, especially in China, where it became the number one American film of 2025.
The sequel has made $333 million domestically and a whopping $1.13 billion overseas. At the Chinese box office alone, it has grossed past $500 million, a rare feat for an American film in recent years.
During the Christmas holiday weekend alone, it managed to gross $87.9 million, which is a major surge considering that the film had been playing in theaters for one month at that point.
The live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch is the only other American film in 2025 that has grossed more than $1 billion at the box office, making Disney the top-grossing studio of the year.
Is There a Zootopia 3 In the Works?
So far, Disney has not officially announced that a third Zootopia is in the works, but given the second movie's successful box office performance, it won't be surprising if discussions are already underway to expand the franchise.
In a recent interview with Polygon, co-director Byron Howard acknowledged that there are "endless" possibilities in expanding the franchise, including a potential third movie.
"It is endless, I think, because it is built around the fact that [just watching] the normal functioning of the world is entertainment itself," he said.
Co-director Jared Bush also added, "Honestly, I think our job is to have people walk out of a theater [and] go, like, ‘That was great! Man, I want more of that!’ I think that's the goal. And I think with this movie, we really tried hard to say, 'This is how you can expand [the Zootopia world]’ that allows people to say, 'And you could expand it even more!' I think that's the goal every single time we go into this world."
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