UPDATED, Wednesday afternoon: Disney will continue to own nine of the top 10 Thanksgiving five-day box office openings as Zootopia 2 is set to do around $140 million from its Wednesday to Sunday at 4,000 theaters.
Always take the projection this far out with a grain of salt as a lot comes down to Black Friday and Saturday. Already, with an estimated $39M Wednesday, including yesterday’s $10.2M previews, Zooptopia 2 owns the second-best Wednesday opening for Thanksgiving after last year’s Moana 2 ($57.8M). The Friday-Sunday for the animated sequel with the voices of Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin is pegged between $88M-$90M+.
Remember, business eases on Thanksgiving but picks up in the evening, with Black Friday one of the year’s highest-grossing box office days.
Disney has premium large format screens for Zootopia 2, but they’re sharing Imax with Universal’s Wicked: For Good which gets those auditoriums for evening showtimes.
Here’s how part 2 of Wicked is shaping up next to its predecessor: Wednesday right now is figured at $17M (versus last year’s $20.3M) at 4,115 locations. Wicked‘s Thanksgiving take last year dipped 17% from Wednesday for $16.7M. The three-day on the Jon M. Chu-directed part II is at $60.2M (-59%) at 4,115 sites, with a five-day of $90M and a running total by Sunday of $267.4M. Wicked‘s second weekend was $81.1M (-28%), with a five-day of $118.2M.
Lionsgate’s Now You See Me: Now You Don’t at 3,138 theaters is eyeing around $1.5M in its second Wednesday for a third weekend of $6.4M (-28%), a five-day of $9.25M and a running cume of $48.7M by Sunday.
‘Predator: Badlands’
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
Disney/20th Century Studios’ Predator: Badlands at 2,750 theaters is eyeing a third Wednesday of $855,000, a fourth weekend of $3.9M (-40%), a five-day of $5.65M and a running cume of $84M. That will easily make Predator: Badlands the highest-grossing installment of the 38-year-old franchise at the domestic box office, overtaking 2004’s Alien vs. Predator which finaled at $80.2M.
Paramount’s Running Man at 3,046 sites is doing $910K today, $4.1M in weekend 3 (-28%), for a five-day of $5.88M and a running cume of $34.5M.
A24’s Eternity at 1,348 locations is seeing around $400K today, $2M over three days and north of $3M for for days. The afterlife rom-com starring Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller and Callum Turner is 76% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
WEDNESDAY AM: After a barren harvest at the fall box office, exhibitors have a lot to be thankful for as Disney’s Zootopia 2 and Universal’s Wicked: For Good finally are delivering the goods this holiday season.
Zootopia 2 started previews at 2 p.m. Tuesday that delivered $10.2M. This is the second-highest preview start for a Walt Disney Animation Studios film ever, only behind Moana 2 ($13.8M Tuesday) and ahead of Frozen II ($8.5M Thursday). It’s also the second-highest Tuesday preview for a Disney Thanksgiving opening title.
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Among the top animated previews ever, Zootopia 2 is 8th
- Incredibles 2: $18.5M Thurs / $183M 3-day (2018)
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: $17.4M Thurs / $121M 3-day (2023)
- Moana 2: $13.8M Tues / $140M 3-day, $225M 5-day (2024)
- Inside Out 2: $13M Thurs / $154M 3-day (2024)
- Toy Story 4: $12M Thurs / $121M 3-day (2019)
- Demon Slayer – Infinity Castle: $11.4M Thurs / $71M 3-day (2025)
- Minions: The Rise of Gru: $10.8M Thurs / $107M 3-day (2022)
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The domestic outlook for Zootopia 2 is $125M over five days. Many believe there’s room for upside, but if it lands at that projection, it will be the second-best 5-day opener over the domestic Thanksgiving holiday after Moana 2. Global start on the movie directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard is north of $270M. The sequel to the Oscar-winning animated movie stands at 93% certified fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, a few notches below the 98% of the 2016 title.
Meanwhile, Universal’s first Tuesday of Wicked: For Good saw $15.75M, which is the second-best Tuesday of 2025 so far after Warner Bros/DC Studios’ Superman, which did $17.1M. In addition, Wicked: For Good charted the fourth-best Tuesday in November after Frozen 2 ($20.7M, Nov. 26, 2019), Wicked ($16.6M, Nov. 26, 2024) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($15.9M, Nov. 26, 2013). Running cume for Wicked: For Good is $177.5M, 22% ahead of Wicked‘s five-day running cume/previews.
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Last year’s trio of Moana 2, Wicked and Paramount’s Gladiator II fueled a record Thanksgiving 5-day of $424.9M. Despite the top-heavy success of Zootopia 2 and Wicked: For Good this weekend, what’s glaringly missing at this year’s Turkey Day box office is a movie for guys a la 2024’s R-rated Gladiator II. Last Tuesday at this time had an extra $6.6M from the Ridley Scott-directed sequel. The Running Man isn’t cutting it, with the movie delivering around $980K yesterday for a cume of $28.7M. The top 20 titles on Tuesday (not counting Zootopia 2 previews) generated $21.7M, -25% from a year ago Tuesday’s tally of $29M.
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