After notching nearly every major box office record, Zootopia 2 is rounding out its victory lap with another milestone. The animated sequel is now the highest-grossing film of 2025 domestically, with its US$424.2 million haul beating A Minecraft Movie (US$424.08 million) by a narrow margin.
While it previously made Hollywood history as the best-performing animated film ever, its Warner Bros. counterpart had a stronger overall footprint in North America. The latest achievement comes 13 weeks after its release, during which the Disney juggernaut claimed the box office crown in several ways, including the studio’s biggest animated debut and the fourth-biggest worldwide start, behind Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Notably, Zootopia 2 is one of the only three films to gross over US$1 billion worldwide in 2025, joining the live-action Lilo & Stitch remake (US$1.03 billion) and China’s Ne Zha 2, which remains the overall box office champion with a tally of over US$2.2 billion. It also led the House of Mouse to cross the US$6 billion mark in global ticket sales last year, alongside Lilo & Stitch and Avatar: Fire and Ash, and currently ranks eighth on the all-time charts.
Released nine years after the original, the film reunites optimistic young rabbit Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin, Once Upon a Time) and sly red fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman, Ozark), whose teamwork is put to the “ultimate test when they find themselves on the twisting trail of a mystery tied to the arrival of a venomous snake in the animal metropolis.”
Jared Bush and Byron Howard directed the sophomore outing, which also stars the returning cast of Idris Elba as Chief Bogo, Nate Torrence as Clawhauser, Jenny Slate as Bellweather, Alan Tudyk as Duke Weaselton, singer Shakira as Gazelle, Tommy Chong as Yax, Maurice LaMarche as Mr Big, and more. Franchise newcomers include Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) as a quokka psychologist, Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once) as a mysterious snake named Gary, and Fortune Feimster (The Mindy Project) as Nibbles the Beaver.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
