Disney’s New Hit Just Beat Avengers: Endgame at the Chinese Box Office

Disney has taken back the spotlight in China’s movie market with a major box office win. According to TheWrap, Zootopia 2 has now become the highest-grossing Hollywood movie ever released in the country. The animated sequel has earned $624 million in China alone, pushing past the long-held record set by Avengers: Endgame.

This record comes during an already huge run for the film worldwide. Just days earlier, Zootopia 2 passed Inside Out 2 to become the top-grossing animated Hollywood movie of all time. Its global total now sits at $1.74 billion, making it the biggest American movie release of 2025 so far. The only film earning more worldwide right now is the Chinese animated hit Ne Zha 2, which has crossed $2 billion.

What makes this success stand out is how rare it has become for Hollywood films to perform well in China. Since the pandemic, very few U.S. movies have found large audiences there. Only eight have managed to earn more than $100 million. Before Zootopia 2, the biggest post-pandemic Hollywood releases in China were Avatar: The Way of Water and F9: The Fast Saga, both far behind Disney’s latest hit.

TheWrap points out that Disney’s approach may be the key reason for this comeback. The studio has focused heavily on local appeal rather than relying only on brand power. Zootopia’s strong presence at Shanghai Disneyland has helped keep interest in the franchise alive, even as many other Western franchises have faded in the region.

Jared Bush, the film’s writer-director and Disney Animation’s chief creative officer, explained how much effort went into making the movie work for audiences around the world. We’re so lucky that we have collaborators worldwide that could not just translate our jokes and the story, but actually tailor it to the audiences, Bush said. And so you’ll get a wholesale different pun in different parts of the world that will work for that audience.

That focus on local humor and culture appears to have paid off in a big way. At a time when Chinese audiences have shown a clear preference for domestic films, Zootopia 2 stands out as a rare Hollywood release that truly connected.

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