Zootopia 2 Breaks Records in China Despite Hollywood Struggles

2025/12/06 04:21:36

A comedy about animal cops investigating a reptilian mystery, Zootopia 2 (known as Zootropolis 2 in some European countries), has become the highest-grossing foreign animated film ever in China, defying a trend of declining interest in overseas productions that has impacted Hollywood films at the Chinese box office.

Released in china last week, the hotly anticipated sequel to 2016’s Zootopia has earned approximately 2bn yuan (£213m) in ticket sales within its first seven days, establishing itself as one of the year’s top-performing films.

On its fourth day of release, Zootopia 2 surpassed Avengers: Endgame to claim the single-day earnings record for an imported film.

The Walt Disney production builds on the success of the original Zootopia, which previously held the title of highest-grossing animated Hollywood film in China with 1.5bn yuan.

Notably, Zootopia 2 has outperformed its North American box office results during its first week.

China was once viewed as a key market for boosting Hollywood box office sales. However, recent years have seen Chinese audiences increasingly favor domestic productions over foreign films. Therefore, the success of an imported film – imports of which are subject to strict control in China – has surprised many observers.

The character Gary de’Snake, voiced by Ke Huy Quan, has proven particularly popular with Chinese audiences.

Chinese cinemagoers and critics attribute the film’s success to its uplifting and positive energy, especially given the current challenging economic and geopolitical climate.

“I am grateful that Disney is still willing to present stories like this in such a divided era,” one user wrote on Douban,a Chinese review website. “If this film had been released 10 years ago, I would have said Disney was merely serving another plate of exquisite, old-fashioned dessert. But precisely because it was born into today’s world, I sincerely hope to see more films like this.”