Anyone who has been paying attention to the global box office knows that China, once the golden goose for Hollywood studios, has been anything but since the pandemic. Franchise players such as “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Godzilla vs. Kong,” and “Jurassic World Dominion,” the “Fast and Furious” films have done quite well, but it’s nowhere close to the consistent success Hollywood found in the previous decade. That has completely changed with “Zootopia 2.“
READ MORE: “Zootopia 2” earns a massive $156 million at the box office over the Thanksgiving holiday
The animated sequel smashed imported film box office records in the world’s second most populous nation, taking in $272 million over the five-day weekend. This includes a staggering $104 million on Saturday when it beat “Avengers: Endgame’s” previous single-day record of $76 million. Some projections have “Zootopia 2” ending up with over $600 million in China alone.
The Walt Disney Animation Studios release is set to be just the second American film to earn over $1 billion overall this year after “Lilo & Stitch” found $1.037 billion this summer. Although Warner Bros. “A Minecraft Movie” came close with $957 million, and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” should join this elite circle when it begins its theatrical run on Dec. 19.
In 2016, the original “Zootopia” did very well in China, earning $216 million, its top-performing overseas market. A figure, its sequel has now blown out of the water. That being said, there were signs Judy and Nick’s latest investigation could turn into something special at the box office.
The biggest movie in the world for 2025 is a Chinese animated film, “Ne Ha 2,” which earned $2.001 billion, placing it at no. 7 on the all-time global releases chart. Walt Disney and its Chinese theatrical distribution partners pulled out all the stops with a massive marketing campaign and have inherent advantages, such as a Shanghai Disney World, to promote the film. Moreover, while U.S. and international distributors receive only one-quarter of the box office revenue in China, they traditionally do not cover any of the marketing costs.
The aforementioned “Fire and Ash” is the next big studio release in China, but the true test for whether American films are back in vogue in the Asian market will be if Sony Animation’s “Goat” starring Steph Curry (the NBA is incredibly popular in the Asian market), Amazon MGM Studios’ “Project Hail Mary” and/or “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,’ overperform in the first quarter of 2026. That is, of course, if the Chinese government approves their release.
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