And the crowd goes wild! Or should that be Hopps and Wilde? Yes, this past weekend saw the hotly anticipated release of Walt Disney Animation Studios' 64th animated effort, Zootropolis 2, into cinemas — a whole decade on from the billion-dollar box office success of 2016's Zootropolis. But while ten years have passed since our last catch-up with ZPD officer Judy Hopps and her reformed criminal buddy Nick Wilde, fan fervour for the franchise hasn't waned: Jared Bush and Byron Howard's sequel has just enjoyed a record-breaking $556 million opening weekend at the box office, the biggest animated movie opening of all time.
Nabbing a cool $146 million domestically and a mega $400 million overseas (including a huge $272 million five-day opening haul in China), Zootropolis 2 doesn't just take the top spot in the animated movie opening ranks, but also now boasts the fourth-biggest global opening of all time too, sitting just behind Spider-Man: No Way Home's $582 million start and the one-two punch of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Making the most of its Thanksgiving release spot, the movie — which finds a newly partnered, deeply dysfunctional Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Wilde (Jason Bateman) reteaming to tackle a new case involving supposedly shifty pit viper Gary (Ke Huy Quan) — has capitalised on the franchise's family-friendly appeal and name recognition to great effect, delivering universally appreciable gags at a rate of knots while offering a timely movie about the importance of community and the dangers of xenophobia
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Following something of a post-summer slump at the box office, which hasn't seen anything come close to rivalling the successes of earlier-in-the-year juggernauts like Lilo & Stitch, A Minecraft Movie, and Jurassic World: Rebirth, Zootropolis 2's eye-watering opening represents a major boost for the box office globally. And with Wicked: For Good proving incredibly popular too right now, and Avatar: Fire And Ash right around the corner, all signs point towards a very merry Christmas for bricks-and-mortar cinemas — and cinemagoers — ahead. Praise Eywa!