Disney set a major financial record over this Martin Luther King weekend, though it’s hardly a surprising victory for those who have been keeping tabs over the past few weeks.
Disney Claims Highest-Grossing Animated Film of All Time…Again
Zootopia 2, released by the studio over last year’s five-day Thanksgiving weekend, is now officially the highest-grossing animated film of all time at the global box office. The well-received sequel to 2016’s Zooptopia has surpassed Disney’s Inside Out 2 as the top-grossing animated title of all time worldwide.
Zootopia 2 had quite a healthy eighth weekend at the domestic box office, taking the third post behind Avatar: Fire and Ash and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple with $11.6 million. That not only pushed it up to the highest-grossing animated pic of all time, but allowed the sequel to squeak into the number-nine spot on the list of the top-10 highest-grossing movies of all time. Zootopia 2 has so far earned $1.706 billion at the global box office compared to Inside Out 2’s final cume of $1.698 billion.
Disney
But Zootopia2 still has some way to go at the box office, and at this point it seems likely to clear the $2 billion mark. The animated sequel, which boasts a 91 percent critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, will undoubtedly pick up a few Oscar nominations later this week; likely, it will earn nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Animated Feature, the latter of which it’s the favorite to win. That will ensure Zooptopia 2 remains in North American cinemas throughout March, and will strengthen its viewership in international territories.
The Bone Temple Opened Below Expectations Despite Rave Reviews
Elsewhere in the North American top 10, Disney’s Fire and Ash barely clung to the top spot in its fifth weekend with $17 million over the four-day MLK weekend. James Cameron’s previous two blue blockbusters each stayed at number one for seven weeks. Fire and Ash could make for a three-peat, but the numbers have been much narrower for this installment than the 2009 original and 2022’s The Way of Water. Going into the long weekend, industry experts expected Fire and Ash would lose the top spot to 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.
Nia DaCosta’s celebrated sequel, which boasts a franchise-best Rotten Tomatoes score and stellar reviews, was projected to take about $20 million. It came in well below expectations with $15 million, exactly half of what predecessor 28 Years Later wracked up when it hit theaters in June 2025. It went on to take $150 million worldwide. Industry experts say that Bone Temple’s lower-than-expected opening is due to the accelerated seven-month turnaround between sequels, with some contending it’s “just too soon” to entice audiences back. Sony is banking on word-of-mouth to take the sequel over the top.
With a 94 percent critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes and an exceptionally high A- on Cinemascore (a stellar number for an R-rated horror sequel) and few other genuine opponents over the next few weeks, it’s possible that The Bone Temple could quietly cross $100 million. A repeat of 28 Years Later’s $150 million seems unlikely; but Sony has already greenlit the franchise’s third installment, which will see original director Danny Boyle’s return, so fans can rest assured that the story will be concluded regardless of financial performance. It helps that The Bone Temple is on the shorter side of modern blockbusters; with a running time of 105 minutes, the sequel has been able to slot itself in for at least six (rather than the usual five or fewer) daily screenings at most locations. Those additional showtimes will have a uniformly positive effect on the final gross.
Sydney Sweeney’s The Housemaid Still Going Strong
Sydney Sweeney’s exceptionally silly (but very entertaining) thriller The Housemaid continued its surprising reign in its fourth weekend, taking the number-four spot with a fall of only 22 percent in its fifth weekend. That’s a spectacular hold for any film, let alone a female-driven R-rated thriller based upon a book. A sequel has already been confirmed.
Lionsgate
Rounding out the top five was A24’s Marty Supreme, which in its fourth weekend surpassed Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) to become the studio’s highest-grossing film of all time. Josh Safdie’s kaleidoscopic period drama has so far earned $80 million in North America alone, which is far more than anyone anticipated the film would net. The film will likely be amongst the most-fêted films when the Oscar nominations are announced on Thursday, and should continue its significant overperformance in the weeks and months to come.
