Disney animation storms global rankings

With $556 million worldwide, 'Zootopia 2' cements the studio's holiday-season dominance

LOS ANGELE:

Walt Disney's animated 'Zootopia 2' racked up an estimated $556 million in global ticket sales over the US Thanksgiving weekend, providing a strong kickoff to Hollywood's crucial holiday moviegoing season.

Nearly half of the film's box office receipts from Wednesday through Sunday came from China, bucking the recent trend of Hollywood releases trailing locally produced titles. The $272 million haul made 'Zootopia 2' the highest-grossing animated Hollywood film in China, surpassing the record set by the first 'Zootopia' in 2016.

Also in cinemas, Universal Pictures' movie musical 'Wicked: For Good' earned $92.2 million worldwide in its second weekend, raising its total to $393.3 million after 10 days.

The strong performance of both films delivered welcome relief for cinema operators hoping to draw steady crowds through Christmas, the second-busiest period for moviegoing. Annual box office revenues, however, remain below pre-pandemic levels recorded in 2019.

'Zootopia 2' generated $156 million of its worldwide total in the United States and Canada, placing it firmly at the top of the domestic charts. The film, set in a city inhabited by animals, follows a bunny police officer voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin and her fox partner voiced by Jason Bateman.

"It's a proud moment for Disney Animation and all of us at Disney, not to mention a great way to start the holiday season," Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman said in a statement.

Year-to-date domestic ticket sales reached $7.8 billion, up 1.2% from the same period last year but still 23% below 2019 levels, according to Comscore. Thanksgiving weekend sales are expected to rank among the top five of all time in the United States and Canada when final figures land on Monday, said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore's head of marketplace trends.

Upcoming releases include James Cameron's third "Avatar" film, due just before Christmas. "Think about how many people were in theatres over the past week being exposed to theatre marketing and trailers," Dergarabedian said. "Hopefully that creates the momentum that can give us a really solid home stretch of the year."