While the first few months aren’t traditionally known for huge box office debuts, 2016 has proven to be an anomaly, with a number of blockbusters arriving in the first half of this year.Deadpoolshattered box office records left and right with a $132.4 million opening, en route to becoming the biggest R-rated movie of all time with $763.2 million worldwide. That movie’s three-weekend streak atop the box office was ended by another blockbuster, Disney’sZootopia, which has become a huge hit with fans and critics alike, earning a whopping $991.8 million worldwide. While we don’t know if it will cross $1 billion yet, with its release onBlu-rayand DVD next week, the animated movie has now become the second biggest original movie in box office history, behindJames Cameron’sAvatar.
This report from Forbes sheds some light onZootopia’s success, which is even more impressive in today’s current movie climate that is oversaturated with reboots, sequels and adaptations. Of course, it’s roughly $1.7 billion belowAvatar’s all-time worldwide mark of $2.7 billion, abox officerecord that evenStar Wars: The Force Awakens($2.06 billion) couldn’t beat. Still, its results do signal that there is an audience for completely original movies, which have become less and less prevalent these days as studios try to build franchises out of properties with built-in audiences.
Zootopiahas taken in $336.1 million domestically, the fourth highest total this year behind Disney’sThe Jungle Book($340.7 million), 20th Century Fox’sDeadpool($362.7 million) and Marvel’sCaptain America: Civil War($377.1 million).Zootopia’s $991.8 million worldwide take is second biggest this year, behindCaptain America: Civil War($1.1 billion), but it’s possible thatThe Jungle Book($879.8 million) could catch up with it, since it was released a month earlier thanZootopia, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Zootopiaalso ranks as the fourth-biggest animated movie of all time, behindToy Story 3($1.063 billion),Minions($1.159 billion), and Frozen ($1.276 billion), although it doesn’t seem that it will be able to catch any of those movies before its run comes to an end. It also ranks as Disney’s 11th biggest movie globally, and the sixth biggest “non-sequel/prequel” of all time, behindAlice in Wonderland($1.025 billion),Jurassic Park($1.029 billion),Frozen($1.27 billion),Titanic($2.186 billion), andAvatar($2.787 billion). The movie is also one of the best-reviewed movies of 2016, with an astonishing 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with just four negative reviews out of 209.
The modernmammal metropolisofZootopiais a city like no other. Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it’s a melting pot where animals from every environment live together-a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. But when optimistic OfficerJudy Hoppsarrives, she discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t so easy. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox,Nick Wilde(Jason Bateman), to solve the mystery.Zootopiawill be available on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD formats on June 7.
