by Xinhua writer Zhang Yunlong
BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- "Zootopia 2" has become the highest-grossing imported film in Chinese box office history, exceeding the previous record held by "Avengers: Endgame," industry data showed on Tuesday.
The milestone, confirmed by data platform Maoyan, represents a rare instance of one Disney franchise overtaking another for the top spot among imported films in China. Both films were produced by Disney subsidiaries.
As of Tuesday morning, the animated sequel had earned 4.251 billion yuan (approximately 606 million U.S. dollars), overtaking the 2019 superhero blockbuster.
The China box office total for "Zootopia 2" represents about 36 percent of its global total, far surpassing its North American earnings and firmly establishing China as the sequel's top market.
The film's outsize success in China compared to other regions is viewed by local commentators as a sign of the market's strength and openness.
"It highlights the enormous market foundation and consumption demand in China," Zhang Jinfeng, deputy editor-in-chief of China Film News, said in a TV interview. He noted that the performance reflects Chinese cinema's "open, inclusive attitude toward globally advanced cinematic achievements," adding that China has become "a key engine for global box-office growth."
China remains the world's second-largest film market. According to Maoyan data, it contributed nearly a quarter of the 30-billion-U.S.-dollar 2025 global box office, just behind North America's 28.8 percent.
For Disney, the sequel's resonance in China is no accident. Zhang Ming, senior vice president and managing director of The Walt Disney Company (China) Limited, said that the franchise has held a "special place" with Chinese audiences for nearly a decade. The world's only Zootopia-themed park is located in Shanghai Disney Resort, which hosted a high-profile promotional campaign for "Zootopia 2" ahead of the film's release.
As part of a localization strategy for the intellectual property (IP), Disney co-produced four original shorts with the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. Using Chinese artistic techniques like ink wash and paper-cutting, the shorts reimagined "Zootopia" characters in contemporary Chinese settings, generating buzz on social media.
For analysts, the film's success is more than just numbers -- it's a critical case study in contemporary audience behavior and content strategy.
Yin Hong, vice chairman of the China Film Association and a professor at Tsinghua University, linked China's 2025 year-end box office surge driven by "Zootopia 2" to a key market insight. In a social media post, he said the phenomenon reveals that imaginative, high-quality animation is a clear favorite among youth, whose social media dominance means that winning their demographic wins the market.
He contrasted this with what he sees as an aging live-action sector, warning that a significant market contraction is inevitable if its screenplays, direction, performances and genres fail to attract younger viewers.
Rao Shuguang, president of the China Film Critics Association, described the market response to "Zootopia 2" as nothing short of "insane."
"It shows that the audience's passion for cinema remains potent, but what's key is supplying more high-quality films," Rao told Xinhua. He emphasized the strategic value of animation IP, citing Disney's multifaceted approach as a key model for the domestic industry.
These observations echo views from Si Ruo, director of the Film and Television Communication Research Center at Tsinghua University, who has emphasized the importance of IP development. She argues that blockbusters like Disney's "Frozen" were not merely films, but launchpads for a sustainable commercial ecosystem.
"A movie is a super advertisement," Si said in a speech during the 2025 Beijing International Audiovisual Conference. She stressed that commercial possibilities must be pre-embedded from the earliest script-writing phase, creating a "business matrix" that drives long-term revenue through licensing, consumer products, and experiential entertainment such as theme parks and immersive exhibitions. ■
