"Theaters are packed once again," wrote Yin Hong, vice chairman of the China Film Association and a professor at Tsinghua University, on social media, sharing photos of a thronged cinema lobby.
China's year-end box office has roared back to life with a fervor usually seen during the Chinese New Year holiday. The surge -- driven largely by Disney's "Zootopia 2" -- is bringing fresh momentum into a market that had languished since October.
The sequel opened day-and-date with North America on Nov. 26. It has since amassed 3.1 billion yuan (438 million U.S. dollars) in China, which accounts for about 47 percent of its current global total and doubles its North American earnings, according to Wednesday's data from ticketing platform Maoyan. It is now the highest-grossing imported animated film in Chinese history.
The film has smashed multiple records, including a one-day haul of 738 million yuan on Nov. 29, the biggest single-day gross ever for an imported title in China. It is also the first imported title since 2022's "Avatar: The Way of Water" to cross the 1-billion-yuan mark in China. Both box office trackers Maoyan and Beacon project its final China tally to reach about 3.8 billion yuan.
Industry analysts say the late-year surge reinforces two realities: China's massive consumer base remains capable of lifting films to heights unmatched anywhere else, and the market continues to show remarkable openness to both homegrown and imported works.
The year's narrative was kicked off by "Ne Zha 2," the domestic animated hit from the January Spring Festival holiday that became a global sensation. Its 15.4 billion yuan haul became the highest gross ever for a film in any single market worldwide, drawing 324 million admissions and topping global animation box office charts. Its success, coming amid uncertainty fueled by streaming competition and shifting audience habits, injected much-needed optimism into the industry.
"China's market is able to support a film exceeding 15 billion yuan. What great works could it not make possible?" said Mao Yu, deputy director of the China Film Administration, at a forum earlier this year. He also noted that China's decades-long reforms have created a mature ecosystem capable of sustaining high-concept productions and diverse genres, demonstrating the "advantages of a super-large market."
Together, "Ne Zha 2" and "Zootopia 2" -- the year's top two animated titles -- have turned 2025 into a banner year for animation in China while challenging simplistic narratives of a market increasingly favoring local titles and turning its back on Hollywood's fading charm. Instead, analysts say, quality is winning.
Audience enthusiasm has been visible both online and in theaters, with parents posting photos of children posing with Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde cutouts. More than 78 million tickets have been sold for "Zootopia 2" in China -- the highest admission figure ever for an imported animated film -- and the sequel holds a strong 8.4 out of 10 rating on review platform Douban.
Chinese commentators believe the film's outsize success in China compared with North America reflects the market's consumption potential as well as its openness. "It highlights the enormous market foundation and consumption demand in China," said Zhang Jinfeng, deputy editor-in-chief of China Film News, in a television interview. It reflects Chinese cinema's "open, inclusive attitude toward globally advanced cinematic achievements," he said, adding that China has become "a key engine for global box-office growth."
China remains the world's second-largest film market, contributing nearly a quarter of the 27.9-billion-U.S. dollar year-to-date global box office, just behind North America's 28.5 percent, according to Maoyan data as of Wednesday.
For Disney, the sequel's resonance in China is no accident. Ming Zhang, senior vice president and managing director, The Walt Disney Company (China) Limited, said that the franchise has held a "special place" with Chinese audiences for nearly a decade. The world's only Zootopia-themed park is located in Shanghai Disney Resort, which hosted a high-profile promotional campaign for "Zootopia 2" ahead of the film's release.
As part of the localization strategy for the "Zootopia" IP, four original shorts were co-produced with Shanghai Animation Film Studio. Using authentic Chinese artistic techniques -- from ink-wash to paper-cut -- the shorts reimagined "Zootopia" characters in contemporary Chinese settings and generated buzz on social media.
Maoyan analyst Lai Li told Xinhua the film's breakout performance "shows that audiences never left and that they will always pay for quality content." He added that the success of "Ne Zha 2" and "Zootopia 2" in 2025 is prompting global studios to rethink how animation, paired with strong IP, can be turned into reliable box-office draws.
For Hollywood, the message is sharper still. With China's share of the "Zootopia 2" global box office jumping from about 20 percent for the original 2016 film to more than 40 percent this time, the shift could force studios to rethink their China release strategies, analysts say. For some titles, China is no longer a bonus market but, increasingly, a defining one.
Mao Yu said that China's economic rise will surely spark greater interest in Chinese films among overseas audiences, while the country remains committed to welcoming "the best films from around the world."
Imported films, according to Maoyan, currently account for 17 percent of China's 2025 box office, below pre-pandemic levels, which stood at 35 percent in 2019.
Cover Image: Nanfang Plus
