A film released at the end of November grossed almost a billion dollars and has already climbed the podium of the most successful Hollywood productions in 2025

Disney's new animated film “Zootropolis 2,” which has dominated the box office since its release in late November, took in another $43 million in its third weekend and is already one of the year's biggest hits, Variety reports.

Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard, Zootropolis 2 (“Zootopia 2” in the original) follows a rabbit cop (voiced by American actress Ginnifer Goodwin) and a crooked fox (Jason Bateman) as they team up to hunt down a mysterious new reptilian resident (Ke Huy Quan).

With rave reviews and an enthusiastic reception from audiences after its November 26 premiere, the family-friendly film has now reached a total of $915.8 million worldwide, of which only $220.5 million came in North America, Hollywood's home market.

The situation is remarkable because the North American box office is considered a benchmark for the cinema market, with most films produced by Hollywood collecting around 50% of their income in North America.

'Zootropolis 2', second Hollywood film to cross $1 billion in 2025

But the new production released 9 years after the first film Zootropolis it proved considerably more successful outside the US and a major one in China, the huge market where most Hollywood-produced films fail to do well. Zootropolis 2 instead sold more than $300 million in tickets in the Asian country.

This means that, just 3 weeks after its release, the new feature film has already climbed to the third position in the ranking of the most successful films produced by Hollywood in 2025. Zootropolis 2 it is only surpassed by Lilo & Stitchanother Disney animated production (grossing $1.03 billion), and the film Minecraft released this spring.

Variety magazine notes that Zootropolis 2 will easily cross the $1 billion mark given that it will be in theaters for weeks to come.

The absolute record of receipts for 2025, however, is held by the Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2which reached a staggering $1.9 billion. The film broke box office records in China and was also released in several major markets outside the country. However, Ne Zha 2 made just 1.2% of its grosses outside of China.

A new film has climbed to the top of the global box office

Despite continued solid receipts, Zootropolis 2 lost its box office crown this weekend to a new release: the horror film Five Nights at Freddy's 2.

Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, Elizabeth Lail and Piper Rubio return in this sequel, which follows a former pizzeria night watchman who is forced to confront a series of animatronic killers. Emma Tammi, who directed the first film, was behind the camera again for this sequel.

Inspired by a popular horror video game franchise of the same name, the feature easily captured the top spot in North America after debuting with $63 million domestically in Hollywood. The amount exceeded analysts' estimates, who expected the film to gross between $35 million and $40 million in its opening weekend.

Internationally, the film earned another $46 million from 76 markets for a global total of $109 million. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 it was made on a shoestring budget of $36 million, so it will be very profitable for Blumhouse, which produced it, and Universal, which distributed it theatrically.

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 it is also the latest video game adaptation to succeed in attracting movie theater audiences, joining titles such as the aforementioned A Minecraft Movie and The Super Mario Bros. Movies.

“These video game adaptations are making waves at the box office,” Jeff Bock, an analyst at the specialty firm Exhibitor Relations, told Variety. “They captured the attention of a younger generation of viewers like no other genre,” he believes.

PHOTO article: Vasilis Ververidis | Dreamstime.com.