Avengers: Endgame Defeated As All-Time Box Office Champ

Written by Chris Snellgrove | Published 8 seconds ago

Before the modern era of superhero fatigue, Avengers: Endgame It established itself as one of the most successful films in Hollywood history. Among other achievements, it grossed $79 million on its first day in China, a record that has not been beaten for many years. However, the Marvel Juggernaut’s record in the Far East has just been broken Zootopia 2Which grossed more than $100 million on its first day of release.

Zootopia 2 is the new box office king

Now, however, Avengers: Endgame His throne has been overthrown before Zootopia 2an anime sequel that grossed over $100 million in China in one day. By the way, the film’s box office success in China was no coincidence. It turns out Zootopia 2 It’s killing it in theaters all over the world and is on its way to becoming the biggest hit film of the year, one that will easily make a billion dollars at the box office before it’s all said and done.

Zootopia 2 It owes at least some of its success to the fact that it was released the day before Thanksgiving, making it a favorite movie for families over the long weekend. To date, the sequel has grossed $556 million worldwide, making it the most successful extended opening weekend film of all time. Previously, this record was maintained Super Mario Bros moviewhich earned a relatively paltry $378 million.

The secret of Marvel’s popularity around the world

The sheer number of people in China means that the country has become vital for any film hoping to become a global hit. Marvel movies are generally very popular across the country, as are most Disney movies.

This is the main reason why the House of Mouse censored some films and added add-ons to some story points in order to attract the Chinese government and the country’s film-loving citizens. For example, Doctor Strange He cast the Ancient One as a very white Tilda Swinton and moved the title character’s magical training from Tibet to Nepal, all to avoid upsetting China.

Overall, this approach worked well, and here’s why Avengers: Endgame It managed to earn $79 million on the first day of its release in China. In a charming bit of international unity, Chinese moviegoers, like their Western counterparts, have fallen in love with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Accordingly, they came to the theaters in large numbers to watch End gamea film that was the culmination of everything the MCU had been working on since 2008.

Disney has become its own worst enemy

On the one hand, this is great news for Disney: with Zootopia 2they now have what will surely be the most successful film of 2025. Better yet, this film’s extended opening weekend box office puts Universal in first place. Mario Bros movie in its place, firmly establishing the House of Mouse as the home of the best animated films. On the other hand, the studio’s success with this sequel helps highlight just how poorly the Marvel Cinematic Universe has fared this year.

For example, The Fantastic Four: The First Steps It earned just $521.9 million worldwide, and Thunderbolts He earned only $382.4 million. now, Zootopia 2 It made more money in its opening weekend than those films earned in their run The entire theatrical release. Given these numbers and the studio’s crowded list of upcoming animated sequels (including… Toy Story 5 and Frozen 3Disney may be learning a hard lesson: that its animated films are generally more profitable than live-action films.

That may change with upcoming films Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Warsthe latter of which will reset this universe and take the MCU in a new direction. Will these films be a hit, and will this new trend be enough to ease collective superhero fatigue among moviegoers? looking at Zootopia 2With China’s success in the Far East, it seems that only China is able to answer these questions!