‘Zootopia’ Nabs Over $30 Million In Second International Weekend

Ahead of its March 4 debut in the United States, Zootopia continued its international rollout this weekend, launching in first place in both France ($9.2 million) and Mexico ($4.5 million). The French opening barely edged out Frozen’s $9.15 million launch to become the best-ever French launch for a Disney animated release.

Zootopoia nabbed $31.2 million across the world for a two-week global total of $39 million. The Byron Howard and Rich Moore-directed movie showed a strong hold in Spain, too, dropping just 23%, for a two-week total of $5.9 million. In Italy, Zootopia launched with $2.8m, better than Big Hero 6 ($1.4m), but weaker than Frozen ($3.2m) and much weaker than Inside Out ($6.4m) and Minions ($8m). Zootopia opens in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Portugal, Cambodia, Singapore, and Taiwan, among other countries, next weekend.

Back in the United States, the top two films remained the same as last weekend. Deadpool, which let’s not forget was directed by an animation artist, easily claimed the top spot with an estimated $55m for a two-week total of $235.4m. Meanwhile, Dreamworks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 3 showed strong legs in it fourth weekend, holding second place with an estimated $12.5m for a $117.1m total.

While KFP3 has done well in the box office rankings during the less competitive winter season, it should be pointed out that the original KFP had grossed $179.3m by this point in its theatrical run, and KFP2 had grossed $143.7m. But the most telling indication of the collapse of the Kung Fu Panda theatrical franchise in the US is its audience numbers. Compared to the original movie in 2008, over 11 million less people have seen the third installment through its first four weekends (25 million admissions versus 13.5 million admissions).

The upside for DreamWorks is that the film hasn’t opened yet in most countries, and will have its big international rollout next month. Although it’ll beat Zootopia to market in some key countries, including Japan, United Kingdom, and Brazil, the film’s grosses may still be negatively impacted by the close release dates of the Disney film. This weekend, Kung Fu Panda 3 added $7.2m internationally, lifting its overseas take to $177m. With US numbers added, the global gross stands at $294.1m.

Let’s also take a moment to mention the grosses for Boy and the World, the Oscar-nominated Brazilian animated feature released by GKIDS in the United States. While we’re still awaiting numbers for this weekend, the Alê Abreu-directed feature earned $12,221 from 19 theaters over last week’s four-day holiday weekend. The film has grossed $94,702 to date, which puts it in tenth place amongst GKIDS releases. The modest grosses so far suggest that while the “Oscar boost” effect may exist in other categories, an Academy Award nomination in the animated feature category has minimal impact on a film’s box office earnings.