‘Zootopia 2’ Becomes Japan’s New Box Office Leader

Zootopia 2 has made a huge impact in Japan, scoring an opening day that surprised even industry experts.

The film earned more than 410 million yen on its first day in theaters, making it the biggest start ever for a Western animated movie in the country. Local reports confirmed that the turnout on release day set a new all-time record for Disney and Pixar animation in Japan.

This strong debut also pushed past the first-day numbers of major releases like Frozen II, Toy Story 4, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, all of which were major hits in Japan when they opened.

The success in Japan comes as the film continues to grow worldwide. As of December 5, the movie has earned $188 million in the United States and Canada. In other international markets, it has collected $485 million, giving it a global total of $673 million.

Deadline Hollywood had earlier reported that the movie was expected to make about $125 million over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S. and around $270 million worldwide. Those estimates ended up being too low. The film pulled in $158.8 million in the U.S. and Canada over the holiday stretch and reached $560.3 million globally in the same period. This made its worldwide opening the largest for an animated film and placed it among the top openings for any movie.

Its three-day weekend total in the U.S. and Canada reached $100.3 million. China also added a major boost, with the movie earning more than $271 million through its opening weekend there. It even became the first Hollywood film to cross $100 million in a single day in China, hitting that milestone on November 29.

With Japan now joining China and North America in showing huge demand for the sequel, Zootopia 2 has quickly become one of the biggest animated releases in years.

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