Disney’s Zootopia 2 powered past the $500 million mark in China over the weekend, continuing one of the strongest theatrical runs for a Hollywood release in the market in years. The result builds significantly on the original Zootopia, which grew gradually through word of mouth to finish its China run at $236 million 2016), then a record-setting total for an imported animated feature.
According to Artisan Gateway, the animated sequel grossed an estimated $55 million over the weekend, lifting its cumulative China total to $500.6 million (RMB 3.55 billion), making it the first imported animation to hit the half-billion mark. The achievement is all the more striking given that late November and early December are typically among the quietest stretches on China’s release calendar, a period when studios often avoid launching major titles ahead of the year-end holiday corridor.
With the milestone, Zootopia 2 has cemented its status as the second-highest-grossing Hollywood film of all time in China, trailing only Avengers: Endgame, which finished its 2019 run at roughly $632 million. It now sits well ahead of other studio tentpoles from China’s box office boom era, including The Fate of the Furious ($393 million), Furious 7 ($390 million) and Avengers: Infinity War ($359 million).
The China result has played a decisive role in Zootopia 2’s broader blockbuster performance worldwide. The film crossed $1 billion after just 17 days in release, becoming the fastest PG-rated film in history to reach the milestone. As of Sunday, the sequel had earned $259.6 million in North America and roughly $1.08 billion globally, with China accounting for nearly half of its worldwide total.
The film again dominated the landscape in China this past weekend. In second place, local release Gezhi Town added an estimated $10.2 million, bringing its total to $43 million after nine days. The period war drama, produced by Daylight Entertainment, stars Xiao Zhan and centers on civilians navigating survival in a besieged town during wartime — the genre that has resonated with mainstream Chinese audiences most consistently this year.
Another new local title, Emperor Motion Pictures’ Under Current, placed third with about $1.2 million, pushing its cumulative gross to $3.1 million. Lionsgate’s Now You See Me: Now You Don’t continued to wind down its impressive run in fourth place, earning roughly $700,000 for a $39.7 million total. Rounding out the top five was a limited reissue of local arthouse star Jia Zhangke’s Mountains May Depart, which grossed around $400,000, lifting its lifetime cume to $5 million.
The result is a big win for Disney, showing that the studio can still mobilize truly broad, cross-generational audiences in China’s increasingly selective theatrical environment. The company will soon test that flew again with the release of James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash, which is set to open nationwide in China on Dec. 19.
