UPDATE: The review embargo has lifted. The film currently stands at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 74 on Metacritic. In what’s been a fairly weak year for animation, those numbers are probably good enough to win the animation Oscar.
EARLIER: A major blockbuster is coming. Disney’s animated “Zootopia 2” is on track to have one of the biggest domestic box office openings of 2025, and easily the biggest worldwide opening.
“Zootopia 2” is looking at $150M+ in the U.S. from its five-day debut, impressive enough on its own. However, internationally is where the numbers look outright whopping: the film is reportedly tracking for a massive $200M+ opening in China alone. Combined with other countries’ ticket sales, it’s on pace to earn $500M worldwide by Sunday evening.
These are insane numbers, especially compared to other 2025 titles. The year’s top openers so far, “Lilo & Stitch” ($361M) and “A Minecraft Movie” ($313M), don’t even come remotely close to what “Zootopia 2” is about to pull in.
It’s well known that since 2020, China has practically closed its doors to Hollywood, and the lucky few films that did make it through the Great Wall haven’t necessarily brought in big numbers. The biggest Hollywood opener in China this year was “Jurassic World Rebirth” at $79M.
It’s still debated why China has suddenly become such a lukewarm market for Hollywood, but the general theories revolve around heightened protectionism, political tension, and shifting audience tastes. Chinese regulators have drastically limited foreign film imports in favor of boosting domestic productions, especially nationalistic blockbusters that now dominate the market.
My general theory about the situation is that the crux of it has to do with worsening U.S.–China relations. The Chinese audience is fervently patriotic, and supporting something like “Ne Zha 2” instead of a Hollywood production is, in their eyes, for the “greater good.” It also helps that “Zootopia” has no American faces—it’s fully animated.
Still no reviews for “Zootopia 2,” but the embargo finally breaks today, and we’ll cover that once it happens. The original, released in 2016, was met with near-unanimous acclaim by audiences and critics (98% on Rotten Tomatoes and 8/10 on IMDb). It earned $1 billion at the box office, and the sequel will likely equal or surpass that number.
“Zootopia 2” opens in theaters on Wednesday.
“Hope,” Na’s first film in ten years — his last one being the exemplary “The Wailing” —is a gloriously messy, blood-soaked sci-fi epic that may become a cult classic despite—or because of—its polarizing nature.