Disney’s “Zootopia” bounced its way to US$73.7 million (S$101.28 million) in its United States opening weekend, a record-setting box office debut for Disney Animation Studios, industry estimates showed Sunday. Big-name celebrities lending their voices to the film include Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman and Idris Elba.
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The estimated $19.5 million Friday is the largest opening day gross ever for Walt Disney Animation Studios (topping Big Hero 6’s $15.8 million), and the estimated $31.8 million Saturday is the largest single-day gross ever for Walt Disney Animation Studios (topping Frozen’s $26.8 million second Friday). Internationally, Zootopia earned $3.3 million on 355 screens, with $3 million of that total coming from 278 Chinese IMAX screens.
It took a G-rated animated feature to usurp the R-rated Deadpool’s reign at the box office. That film also took home an Oscar for animated feature film in 2015. Polling company CinemaScore said the film scored an A grade from audiences, while film review website Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 98 percent positive rating.
Trailing well behind in second place at the weekend box office was “London Has Fallen”, the sequel to 2013’s “Olympus Has Fallen”. Compared with its $60 million production budget, London Has Fallen’s opening shows little promise for more than a break even in domestic sales, meaning worldwide sales will have to pick up the slack.
Another Tina Fey raunchy comedy opened in fourth place: “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot”, with a $7.6 million debut.
“Deadpool” fell to third with $16.4 million, bringing its domestic total to a staggering $311.2 million.
“Zootopia” has also been received well by critics and moviegoers alike.
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Rounding out the top five was Lionsgate’s “Gods of Egypt”. The $140 million action epic has earned a meager $22.8 million domestically after two weeks – a bad result for a picture that was meant to usher in a new franchise.
