'Zootopia' Beats 'Deadpool' at Box Office With Record Breaking Opening for Disney

Movie

The animated comedy sets a new record for the biggest Disney Animation Studios opening of all time, surpassing 2013's 'Frozen'.

March 7, 2016

AceShowbiz -

"Zootopia" is the new biggest hit for Disney. As predicted, the movie ends "Deadpool" reign to become a champion at North American box office in its opening weekend. The movie raked in an estimated $73.7 million, setting a new record for the biggest Walt Disney Animation Studios opening of all time.

The animated comedy featuring Jason Bateman, Ginnifer Goodwin and Shakira in the voice cast surpasses Disney's previous biggest hit "Frozen (2013)" which opened to $67.4 million. "Zootopia" also scores the fourth-biggest March opening weekend, behind "The Hunger Games" ($152.5 million), "Alice in Wonderland" ($116.1 million) and "Oz: The Great and Powerful" ($79.1 million).

"Zootopia" has been praised by critics for its messages about prejudice and tolerance and scored A CinemaScore. "[Pixar's John Lasseter and Ed Catmull] have installed a culture of high-quality, filmmaker-driven movies," says Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis. The movie is expected to benefit from there being no other family films until Disney's "The Jungle Book" opens on April 15.

Another new release, "London Has Fallen", debuts at No. 2 with an estimated $21.7 million. It gives Gerard Butler back-to-back openings at the box office after last week's "Gods of Egypt" which bombed with only $14.1 million. The action fantasy movie added approximately $5 million in its second weekend to secure the fifth position.

Editors' Pick

Tina Fey's new movie "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" opens at No. 4 with an estimated $7.6 million, under expectations of a double-digit opening. Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore remains optimistic though, saying, "The movie opened just a little softer than we hoped for but Tina's movies, such as 'Sisters', play to a great multiple and we had a great Saturday, so we're hoping for a strong run."

"Deadpool" adds around $16.4 million in its fourth weekend, dropping to the third place. The R-rated "not-superhero" movie has collected $311.2 million domestically so far.