“Zootopia 2” is a rare smash hit for Hollywood at the Chinese box office
The Disney sequel just had the second-biggest foreign film debut ever in China, even as the country’s box office leans heavily toward domestic movies.
Following the success of “Moana 2” last year, Disney’s latest Thanksgiving offering had all the hallmarks of a modern-day blockbuster: a PG-rated animated sequel, ripe for cute, animal-inspired merchandise.
As box office takings for the five-day weekend roll in, it seems that “Zootopia 2” is following the script, notching a mammoth ~$560 million worldwide — the highest-grossing global debut for 2025, per Deadline, and the fourth-highest of any film ever.
One slightly surprising place it’s finding an audience, though, is China. While “Zootopia 2” has beat out China’s own smash hit “Ne Zha 2” for the best-ever opening for an animated movie worldwide, it’s also managed to take the domestic-dominated Chinese box office by storm with a ~$275 million haul, trailing only “Avengers: Endgame” for foreign debuts in the country.
Made in China, for China
This marks a rare win for a US-made movie in China. Per Bloomberg, as America’s share of the global box office has shrunk from 92% to just 66% in the last two decades, Chinese-produced movies have soared in popularity, bumping them up international charts.
Looking at the top 25 global movies each year compiled by The Numbers, Chinese-produced flicks barely made the ranking until 2015. However, since a pandemic lull, China’s film industry has been booming, with domestic hits now routinely rivaling Hollywood tentpoles.
Though America is still first overall, with 19 of the top global box office hits of the year so far (vs. China’s five), US movies have struggled to break into China — even before they got caught up in the trade war.
While China has commanded 20% of the global box office on average over the last five years, only a 2% share of the country’s box office in that period came from overseas movies. So, Hollywood might have to stick with anthropomorphic action if it’s to win over a growing Chinese audience as it has with “Zootopia” — and bring the US industry back to its glory days.
