With American Thanksgiving happening this Thursday, theater owners are looking forward to gorging themselves on some well-earned cash this holiday, thanks to two top-shelf releases: Disney’s Zootopia 2 and Universal’s Wicked: For Good. Zootopia 2 began its previews at 2 p.m. Tuesday for a total of $10.2 million. This amount is the second-highest preview start for a Walt Disney Animation Studios film ever, following Moana 2 ($13.8M Tuesday) and ahead of Frozen II ($8.5M Thursday). Additionally, it’s also the second-highest Tuesday preview for a Disney Thanksgiving opening title.
What Do Analysts Expect from Zootopia 2’s 5-Day Opening?
During the sequel’s five-day opening window, analysts expect Zootopia 2 to earn $125 million in domestic dollars. It could go higher, but Wicked: For Good could cut into earnings for the Jared Bush and Byron Howard co-directed animated sequel. If Zootopia 2 hits the mark, it will become the second-best 5-day opening over the domestic Thanksgiving holiday, after Moana 2. Globally, Zootopia 2 could make as much as $270 million.
Meanwhile, in Oz, Wicked: For Good is off to see the Wizard with a Tuesday total of $15.75 million, giving the Jon M. Chu-directed musical the second-best Tuesday of 2025 so far after Warner Bros/DC Studios’ Superman, which did $17.1M. According to Box Office Mojo, Wicked: For Good has a worldwide total of $237.7 million, proving that audiences are eager to see the continuation of last year’s Wicked, despite many feeling lukewarm about the Broadway production’s second act.
What Are Our Critics Saying About Zootopia 2?
While Zootopia 2 currently has a 93% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 82 reviews), JoBlo’s Chris Bumbray thinks it lacks the magic and heart of the original. In his review, Chris said, “Zootopia 2 is like a lot of product Disney’s been putting out lately — in that it’s not particularly bad, but it’s also assembly-line and generic. They’re playing it safe to appeal to as many people as they can, but they’re making watered-down product that will never be considered on par with the Disney classics they were producing a few years ago. This is fine for kids, and it won’t bore their parents, but it won’t spark joy in the wide audience the original appealed so strongly to.”
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