Zootopia 2 Just Kicked One Of The Biggest Sequels Ever Out Of The Box Office Top 10
by Ryan Scott · /FilmIt's official: Disney's "Zootopia 2" is now one of the highest-grossing movies of all time. With another very strong weekend for the animated sequel in the books, it's made history as the biggest animated movie ever made behind only China's smash hit "Ne Zha 2" ($2.25 billion), which took the world by surprise last year (even if American audiences largely ignored it). More importantly though, one of the biggest sequels ever has now been kicked out of the global top 10 as a result of the movie's success.
"Zootopia 2" added $9.2 million domestically this past weekend to go with an impressive $24.3 million internationally. With that, its running total stands at a monster $1.7 billion worldwide, including $390.4 million in North America and a whopping $1.313 billion overseas. That puts it at number nine all time, just behind "Spider-Man: No Way Home" ($1.92 billion worldwide). More importantly, that means 2015's "Jurassic World" is no longer one of the 10 biggest movies globally.
Released in 2015, "Jurassic World" grossed an astounding $1.67 billion worldwide, making it the third-biggest movie ever at the time. Universal has since turned the "Jurassic World" franchise into a straight-up cash cow. While other films such as "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" ($2.07 billion), "Avengers: Infinity War" ($2.05 billion), "Avatar: The Way of Water" ($2.33 billion), and "Avengers: Endgame" ($2.79 billion) would surpass it in the ensuing years, it managed to hang in the top 10 for just over a decade.
But all great things must come to an end, and such is the case with that movie's run on this list. "Inside Out 2," which made a gargantuan $1.69 billion in 2024, now occupies the number 10 spot. How long it will be able to hold that ground remains to be seen.
Jurassic World enjoyed a very good run in the global box office's top 10
Walt Disney Studios has now released the top three highest-grossing animated American movies of all time, with "Frozen II" ($1.45 billion) also being on that list. It's a testament to the power of Disney animation. Of course, the studio has had issues generating original hits in recent years, with misfires like "Elio" and "Strange World" looming large, but that's another conversation entirely.
What's fascinating is that, at the time, "Jurassic World" felt like a truly massive moment in pop culture. It set the record for the fastest movie to make $1 billion at the box office upon its release, all while breaking the record for the biggest opening weekend ever at $208.8 million (which beat the then-record set by 2012's "The Avengers" with $207.4 million). That record has since been beaten, but at the moment, it was truly difficult to fathom.
By contrast, it feels like Disney's latest animated sequel was, in many ways, almost able to coast to $1.7 billion. A big part of that was an outsized $619 million in China to date, which is one of the main reasons why "Zootopia 2" has been such a huge box office success. It's also interesting to note that the industry, in general, felt like it was booming in the 2010s before the pandemic upended the film business as we know it in 2020. "Jurassic World" was a marquee moment in Hollywood's peak era of franchise moviemaking.
This all but ensures that Disney will pursue "Zootopia 3." It also essentially guarantees that there won't be another nine-year break between installments. Clearly, there's a lot of money to be made here. Congratulations to directors Jared Bush, Byron Howard, and all involved.
"Zootopia 2" is in theaters now.