Disney’s Biggest Animated Movie Ever Breaks One Last Box Office Record

In late 2025, Disney rebounded from what was an uncharacteristically rough year at the box office with the one-two punch of Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash. Both were sizable draws, as they’re two of the three 2025 Hollywood movies to reach the $1 billion milestone (the other, ironically enough, was the live-action Lilo & Stitch remake). In particular, Zootopia 2 had a very strong theatrical run. Bolstered by an unexpectedly fruitful debut in China, the sequel broke numerous box office records on its way to becoming Disney’s highest-grossing animated film of all time. As Zootopia 2‘s time in theaters winds down, it’s managed to accomplish one last box office feat.

According to Variety, Zootopia 2 has now grossed $424.2 million at the domestic box office. With that, it now ranks as the highest-grossing 2025 release domestically, narrowly edging out A Minecraft Movie ($424.08 million). This means a Disney-distributed animated film has been the top movie at the domestic box office for two years in a row; Inside Out 2 pulled off the achievement in 2024.

After Record-Breaking Box Office Success, the Zootopia Franchise Has a Bright Future

Disney has yet to officially announce Zootopia 3, but it feels like it’s only a matter of time before that happens. Not only was Zootopia 2 one of the biggest box office hits of all time, the creative team laid the groundwork for another follow-up by including a post-credits scene that hinted at the arrival of birds to Zootopia. This is now cemented as one of Disney’s most creative and lucrative franchises, so they’re not going to let it sit on the shelf and collect dust indefinitely.

Ideally, it won’t take nearly a decade for the next installment to come to fruition, but fans could still be in for a bit of a wait. Animated films take a long time to produce, and even if Zootopia 3 was fast tracked, Walt Disney Animation Studios has other projects coming through the pipeline first. Hexed comes out this fall, and Frozen 3 follows in November 2027. With that schedule in mind, the earliest Zootopia 3 could premiere is likely 2028, but it could be even later than that since the creative team needs to take time to iron out the story and handle what will surely be an extensive production. Six years separated Frozen and Wreck-it Ralph installments, while Moana 2 arrived eight years after its predecessor. Nobody wants Zootopia 3 to be rushed.

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In the meantime, Zootopia 2 caps off an impressive box office turnaround for Disney. Most of the Mouse House’s 2025 was marked by commercial disappointments like Tron: Ares, Captain America: Brave New World, and Elio, but at the end of the day, the studio distributed three of the top five highest-grossing movies domestically in 2025. Avatar: Fire and Ash is on the precipice of reaching the $400 million mark in the United States, and it would be just the fourth 2025 film to do so.

There’s a scenario where animated Disney films top the box office charts for three consecutive years. This summer sees the release of Toy Story 5, which is shaping up to be one of 2026’s biggest hits. Pixar’s box office track record is not what it once was, but its sequels are reliable draws, and Toy Story is a very lucrative franchise. Both Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4 cleared $1 billion worldwide; the former was 2010’s highest-grossing film domestically, while the latter was the third-highest-grossing movie of 2019. There are several high-profile movies on the horizon this year, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see Toy Story 5 near the top of the list.

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