Weekend Box Office: Zootopia 2 Scores Second Biggest Thanksgiving Opening Ever

Anyone who doubted that Zootopia 2 was going to be one of the kings of the winter season (and, quite frankly, the year) should be checking their credentials. Since summer, this column has been including the animated sequel as part of the trio of films (along with Wicked: For Good and Avatar: Fire and Ash) that would be adding a billion (maybe close to $1.5 billion) on the domestic sales chart and helping to put 2025 over the top as the biggest box office year since the pandemic. Well, this weekend it boasted the second biggest Thanksgiving opening ever, and worldwide it is already one of the top 10 highest-grossing films of the year. KING of the Crop: Zootopia 2 Scores Second Biggest Thanksgiving Opening Ever Disney’s Zootopia kicked off the Spring season back in 2016 with a $75 million opening. It went on to gross $341 million domestic (seventh best of the year) and $1.02 billion worldwide (fourth best). It is the fifth-highest grossing non-sequel animated film ever. Now it has a sequel. Nine years later, Zootopia 2 took over Thanksgiving with $96.8 million over the weekend and $156 million since Wednesday, as well as its Tuesday previews. (The 4:20 matinee on Tuesday I attended at my local theater was sold out.) That $156 million in five days is the eighth-best start for a film in November. Its 12-day ranking will be higher next week, as it likely will have one of the top five second weekends for a November release ever. Frozen II made $163.8 million in its first five days. Zootopia 2 will aim to be just the seventh November release to have grossed over $250 million in its first 12 days, five of which grossed more than $424 million. We shall see if the latest sixth film on that list has the legs for such a milestone. Globally though, forget about it. Thanks to an outpouring of fanfare in China, where the film is second only to Avengers: Endgame’s single-day record for a Hollywood film, Zootopia 2 is already over $556 million worldwide. Its $400 million international haul is already the eighth-best in 2025, with over $271 million alone coming from China. It will be in the top five by next weekend, where it will march towards becoming just the second billion-dollar Hollywood film of the year after Lilo & Stitch. Ne Zha 2 still owns the lead with $1.9 billion, nearly $1.88 billion of that coming from the international market. Tales of the top 10: Wicked Continues to Enchant, The Running Man Tumbles Further Last year’s Wicked had the fourth-best 10-day total ever in November with $263.1 million. Now, Wicked: For Good has the fourth-best ever with $270.4 million. That is after adding $62.8 million over the weekend and $93 million since Wednesday. As originally predicted, Wicked’s second act would open better than the first, but might finish behind its totals overall. This takes nothing away from the boatloads of cash For Good has grossed already, quickly adding to a total that already has it in the win column for Universal. Part One had a Thanksgiving weekend of $81.1 million (3-day) and $118.2 million (5-day), marking a significant decrease for Part Two. Those numbers were even achieved in a contest against the biggest Thanksgiving opening of all-time in Moana 2, which pulled in over $225 million over the 5-day holiday before it fell 63% to $51.2 million in its second weekend. For Good’s numbers are a little closer to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, rather than Catching Fire, which could give it a finish in the $375-399 million region rather than crossing the $400 million milestone, though the film is close to that worldwide with $393 million.  Now You See Me: Now You Don’t took in $7 million over the weekend and $10.1 million since Wednesday. That brings its 17-day total to $49.6 million on the domestic side, while overseas it is over $137 million. It may not be as big as the previous two films, but it is at least approaching the category of success. Starship Troopers and Gothika were the only November releases between $45-50 million after their third weekends to not reach $60 million. Now You Don’t was right in the middle, with the sixth-best third weekend amongst the 12 of them. Christmas with the Kranks, The Haunted Mansion, and A Bad Moms Christmas all surpassed $70 million. Now You Don’t is ahead of all three, and it bested The Haunted Mansion’s third weekend by roughly $800,000.  Predator: Badlands finished off its fourth weekend with $4.8 million. With $6.6 million made since Wednesday, its 24-day total rests at $85 million. Only three November releases to make over $80 million by the end of their fourth weekends failed to reach $100 million. They include The Marvels, Red One, and M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable. Red One had a $7 million fourth weekend before falling off big in weekends six and seven, and it is currently a couple million ahead of Predator: Badlands. The overall numbers may feel like a bit of a disappointment, as the $105 million production hopes to make up the difference in VOD and home media sales. But with $173.7 million worldwide, this is officially the highest-grossing film to feature the Predator. There is no avoiding the fact that Paramount’s The Running Man is one of the biggest theatrical bombs of the year. In 17 days, the $110 million production has grossed just $34.2 million domestic and another $26 million overseas. That is after $5.5 million from Wednesday-to-Sunday and a third weekend of only $3.7 million. The Schwarzenegger original also had its third weekend over the Thanksgiving holiday, earning $5.36 million (3-day) and $7.97 million (5-day). At this rate, Edgar Wright’s version of Stephen King’s novel is barely going to outgross the 1987 film. It hasn’t been a great year for the theatrical side of Paramount just as their merger with Skydance Media went through in August. Their 2026 slate includes the new Scream, a new Scary Movie, and the animated Paw Patrol and Last Airbender films. A24’s Eternity with Miles Teller and Elizabeth Olsen did not find its audience over the holiday, opening with just $3.1 million over the weekend and $5.2 million since Wednesday. However, the film is only in 1,348 theaters, so compare that to the studio’s launches over the years between 900-1,999 theaters. They include Free Fire (1,070 theaters, $994,431 opening), Zola in 2021 (1,468 theaters, $1.2 million), You Hurt My Feelings (912 theaters, $1.39 million), and Opus (1,764 theaters, $1.01 million).  Hakari’s Rental Family with Brendan Fraser made $2.1 million in its second weekend and $3 million since Wednesday, bringing its 10-day total to $7.3 million. Fraser’s Oscar-winning role in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale was initially platformed by A24 and went on to gross $17.4 million throughout its awards run. Rental Family is only Searchlight’s second release of the year, with two more on the horizon: Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On? and Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee. Focus launched Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet in 119 theaters over the holiday, and the awards favorite made $880,000 over the weekend and $1.3 million in its first five days of release. Funny enough, the studio also released the comedy Hamlet 2 back in 2008 in 103 theaters, and it opened to $439,925 in its first weekend before going wider into 1,597 locations the following week, where it made $1.69 million. Hamnet is hoping to make more of a splash with its upcoming expansion, drawing in fans of the book and more with the promises of tears as its name (and Jessie Buckley’s) comes up a lot as more critic nominations come out next month. Jalmari Helander’s Sisu made $7.26 million back in 2023, a pretty solid total for a non-English action film. His sequel, Sisu: Road to Revenge, which is mostly English and fierce silent gazes, opened last week and added $1.2 million over the holiday to bring its 10-day total to $4.1 million. Finally, ending its run in the top 10 is Sony Classics’ Nuremberg. James Vanderbilt’s film made $749,000 over the weekend and $1.08 million since Wednesday to bring its total to $12.5 million. It is the company’s highest-grossing domestic release since 2017’s Call Me By Your Name grossed $18.09 million. (Netflix again has chosen to not release figures on their 600-theater release of Wake Up Dead Man. Some reports say it made enough to make the top 10, but unless they report estimates they will not be considered official here.) Outside of the top 10, Kleber Mendonca Filho’s The Secret Agent with Wagner Maura made $46,000 in two theaters. The $23,000 per-theater-average is Neon’s third best of the year behind Sentimental Value ($50,008) and the single theater gross of Orwell: 2+2=5 of $25,887 its opening weekend. The Secret Agent has made $71,000 since Wednesday. Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, meanwhile, made $451,000 in 284 theaters over the weekend and $666,000 since Wednesday. It has made $2.3 million to date. On the Vine: Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 Offers Some Holiday Counter-Programming Folks may have had no interest in Osgood Perkins’ Keeper, but horror in the winter season is hoping to have a new champion with Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, the sequel to the incredibly popular video game adaptation that grossed $80 million its opening weekend despite being available at home. Bleecker Street releases the Downton Abbey spoof Fackham Hall. Sony Classics has the musical Merrily We Roll Along, with Daniel Radcliffe. Finally, Lionsgate will release Quentin Tarantino’s complete epic, Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair. Full List of Box Office Results: November 26-30, 2025 Zootopia 2 – $96.8 million (3-day) $156.0 million (5-day) ($156.0 million total) Wicked: For Good – $62.8 million (3-day) $93.0 million (5-day) ($270.4 million total) Now You See Me: Now You Don’t – $7.0 million (3-day) $10.1 million (5-day) ($49.6 million total) Predator: Badlands – $4.8 million (3-day) $6.6 million (5-day) ($85.0 million total) The Running Man – $3.7 million (3-day) $5.5 million (5-day) ($34.2 million total) Eternity – $3.1 million (3-day) $4.9 million (5-day) ($5.2 million total) Rental Family – $2.1 million (3-day) $3.0 million (5-day) ($7.3 million total) Hamnet – $880,000 (3-day) $1.3 million (5-day) ($1.3 million total) Sisu: Road to Revenge – $810,000 (3-day) $1.2 million (5-day) ($4.1 million total) Nuremberg – $749,000 (3-day) $1.08 million (5-day) ($12.5 million total) Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast. [box office figures via Box Office Mojo] Thumbnail image by ©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Find Something Fresh! Discover What to Watch, Read Reviews, Leave Ratings and Build Watchlists. Download the Rotten Tomatoes App.

View Original Article