Disney’s ‘Zootopia 2’ hits $1 billion global box office
In Disney’s “Zootopia 2,” detectives Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde find themselves on the winding trail of a mysterious reptile wreaking havoc on the mammal metropolis of Zootopia.
Disney
Walt Disney Company. He shot the second billion-dollar movie of 2025 with the help of a determined rabbit and a mischievous fox.
“Zootopia 2” will surpass $1 billion at the global box office on Friday, the company estimates, joining the live-action remake of “Lilo & Stitch” as the only Hollywood-made films to top the benchmark this year. By the end of the week, the film’s gross was $232.7 million domestically and $753.4 million in international markets.
“This milestone means the world to us because, more than anything, it means audiences are coming to theaters for a shared experience of watching this movie on the big screen, with everyone together, from all walks of life — and that’s a Zootopia dream come true,” Jared Bush, chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, wrote in a statement Friday.
The only other movie to cross the billion-dollar threshold this year was China’s “Ne Zha 2,” which has collected $2.2 billion since its release in January, according to data from Comscore.
“With the evolution of global market trends in recent years, reaching $1 billion has again become a bit of a novelty,” Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory, told CNBC.
He also noted the significance of the film’s “surprising success in China.” Nearly $450 million of “Zootopia 2’s” worldwide gross so far has come from the region; That’s a huge figure, considering China has reduced the number of American films it allows to be shown in theaters and is threatening to restrict even more due to rising tariffs.
“Zootopia 2” achieved the highest-grossing non-local animated film opening of all time in China, breaking the record for the highest-grossing non-local animated film of all time within five days of its release in the country, Disney reported.
The film’s billion-dollar gross also highlights a shift in the domestic cinema market. PG-rated family movies outperformed PG-13 and R-rated movies at the box office in 2025. So far, PG movies released this year have grossed $2.7 billion in the U.S. and Canada, while PG-13 movies have grossed $2.5 billion and R-rated movies have grossed $2.4 billion.
This shift began in 2024, when PG-rated films sold more tickets domestically than other rated films for the first time. According to data from Comscore, PG-13 movies have dominated the field for decades.
“With PG-rated movies, kids are often the ones deciding whether to hit the multiplex, and their influence can be seen directly in the numbers in the category, which have reached all-time highs over the last few years,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of market trends at Comscore. “It is equally impressive that most PG movie tickets sold are at a lower kid-friendly price point, making achieving these major box office milestones even more impressive.”
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns Fandango and CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of Fandango and CNBC, based on Comcast’s planned Versant spinoff.
