Zootopia 2 didn’t just show up for Thanksgiving — it blew past expectations and parked itself in the record books. Five days into release, Disney’s sequel is already rewriting what an animated opening can look like, and yes, some of these stats are wild.
What it opened to
The movie hit U.S. theaters on November 26, 2025 and launched with an estimated $556 million worldwide: $156 million from the U.S. and Canada, and $400 million from everywhere else. That puts it at the fourth-biggest global debut in movie history, behind Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, and Spider-Man: No Way Home — and the biggest opening ever for an animated film. Given the first Zootopia cracked $1 billion back in 2016, this sequel is already on a very short runway to the same mark.
Who made it, how long it is, and how it’s playing
Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard, the voice cast brings back Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman, with Shakira, Idris Elba, Alan Tudyk, Nate Torrence, Don Lake, Bonnie Hunt, and Jenny Slate in the mix. It runs 1 hour and 48 minutes. Early audience and critic response is strong: 7.8/10 on IMDb and 91% on Rotten Tomatoes (both still evolving).
The mountain of records, in one place
Quick note before the deluge: when you see 'based on current rates,' that’s an industry-nerd way of saying currency exchange rates can shift how international numbers stack up historically.
- [Global] Biggest worldwide opening ever for an animated movie (based on current exchange rates).
- [Global] Fourth-largest global debut in film history, behind Endgame ($1.2B), Infinity War ($630M), and No Way Home ($587M).
- [Global] Largest worldwide opening of 2025 across all films.
- [Global] Biggest global opening for an animated sequel.
- [Global] Strongest worldwide opening in Walt Disney Animation Studios history.
- [Global] Across Disney’s 102 years, biggest animated global launch the company has ever had.
- [Global] Opening weekend came in 239% higher than the original film’s debut.
- [Domestic/US-Canada] Second-biggest Thanksgiving Day ever, trailing Moana 2.
- [Domestic/US-Canada] Second-largest three-day and five-day Thanksgiving openings, again behind Moana 2.
- [Domestic/US-Canada] Second-highest Black Friday gross with $38.9M (Moana 2 holds the lead at $54.3M).
- [Domestic/US-Canada] Second-best pre-Thanksgiving Wednesday on record.
- [Domestic/US-Canada] Second-largest preview total for a Disney Animation sequel — ahead of Frozen II, behind Moana 2.
- [International] Fourth-largest international opening in movie history.
- [International] Biggest international debut ever for Disney Animation (based on current exchange rates).
- [International] Highest international opening for any animated film (based on current exchange rates).
- [International] Largest Hollywood international debut of 2025.
- [China] Sixth-largest opening ever in China across local and imported releases.
- [China] Second-biggest opening for a foreign film in China, behind Avengers: Endgame.
- [China] Highest animated debut in China for a non-Chinese movie.
- [China] Top-grossing foreign film in China since Endgame in 2019.
- [China] Biggest non-local animated film in China within five days.
- [China] Now the fourth-highest-grossing animated movie ever in China.
- [China] Surpassed the entire Chinese gross of the first Zootopia in only five days.
- [China] New all-time single-day record in China for an MPA title, topping Endgame’s best day.
- [China] Strongest start for any Hollywood release in China in 2025.
So, how unusual is this?
Two things stand out. First, the sequel is playing like a four-quadrant live-action juggernaut, not a family animation. Second, Thanksgiving usually belongs to Disney, sure, but seeing Zootopia 2 go toe-to-toe with Moana 2 and finish second across almost every holiday metric — while still detonating worldwide — is a very 2025 kind of plot twist.
Where it goes next
With this kind of velocity, the billion-dollar question isn’t 'if' but 'how fast.' Zootopia 2 is in theaters worldwide now.