By Lisa Richwine
Nearly half of the film's box office receipts from Wednesday through Sunday came from China. The $272 million tally made it Hollywood's highest-grossing animated movie in the country, surpassing a record set by the first "Zootopia" in 2016.
Also in theaters, Universal Pictures' CMCSA.O movie musical "Wicked: For Good" claimed $92.2 million worldwide in its second weekend, bringing its total to $393.3 million after 10 days.
The fervor for the two films provided welcome news for movie theater owners who hope audiences will pack cinemasin the coming weeks through Christmas,the second-busiest time of the year for moviegoing. Annual box office sales have yet to recover to the pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019.
"Zootopia 2" collected $156 million of its worldwide total in the United States and Canada, making it the leader on domestic box office charts. The movie set in a city of animals tells the story of a bunny police officer, voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin, and her fox partner, voiced by Jason Bateman.
"It’s a proud moment for Disney Animation and all of us at Disney, not to mention a great way to start the holiday season," Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman said in a statement.
"Wicked: For Good," last weekend's domestic box office champion, dropped to second place this week with $93 million. The movie stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in a prequel to the classic film "The Wizard of Oz."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Chris Reese and Chizu Nomiyama )