The Disney Animation title soars to $232.5 million worldwide; elsewhere, 'London Has Fallen' lags behind its predecessor, while Tina Fey's 'Whiskey Tango Foxtrot' and Terrence Malick's 'Knight of Cups' struggle.
Over the weekend, Zootopia — buoyed by glowing reviews and an A CinemaScore — launched to a record $73.7 million from 3,827 theaters in North America, the top showing ever for Disney Animation Studios and the top March opening for an animated title, besting Dr. Suess' The Lorax ($70.2 million). To boot, it's the No. 4 March opening among any film behind The Hunger Games ($152.5 million) and two Disney live-action titles, Alice in Wonderland ($116.1 million) and Oz The Great and Powerful ($79.1 million).
Disney Animation's previous biggest opening belonged to the 2013 blockbusterFrozen ($67.4 million).
Zootopia is also huge overseas, where it began rolling out two weeks ago. The family film took in another $63.4 million this weekend — including $24 million in China, the biggest opening ever for a Disney Animation or Pixar release — putting its foreign total at $158.8 million and worldwide haul at $232.5 million. Imax theaters, not exactly known for family films, turned in an impressive $8.5 million globally.
Set in a city of anthropomorphic animals, Zootopia tells the story a rookie bunny cop who teams up with a fugitive fox to uncover a conspiracy. Byron Howard and Rich Moore directed the animated film, which features the voices of Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba and Jenny Slate.
Once Pixar's John Lasseter and Ed Catmull were put in charge of Disney Animation Studios, the storied company's reinvention began, first in 2010 with Tangled, followed byWreck-It Ralph, Frozen and Big Hero 6.
Zootopia easily placed No. 1 at the worldwide box office, ending Deadpool's three-week rule. Deadpool still had plenty to celebrate as it zoomed past the $300 million mark in North America, earning $16.3 million from 3,624 theaters in its fourth weekend for a domestic total of $311.2 million through Sunday. Overseas, its weekend take was $21.2 million for a foreign cume of $362 million and worldwide total of $673.2 million.
Among other new titles on the marquee, London Has Fallen fared the best, placing No. 2 in North America with $21.7 million from 3,490 theaters. However, it came in behind expectations after earning scathing reviews (audiences liked it better, giving it an A- CinemaScore). In 2013, sleeper hit Olympus Has Fallen debuted to $30.4 million.
Babak Najafi directed London Has Fallen for Millennium, with Focus Features handling distribution duties. Angela Bassett, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman return alongside Gerard Butler.
London Has Fallen gives Butler back-to-back openings at the box office after last weekend's Gods of Egypt, which has fared miserably. Gods of Egypt tumbled 64 percent to $5 million in its second weekend for a domestic total of $22.8 million, coming in No. 5. It's faring somewhat better overseas, grossing $15.7 million for a foreign cume of $49.6 million and a global total of $72.4 million.
Like London Has Fallen, Tina Fey's war dramedy Whiskey Tango Foxtrot also came in behind expectations, opening to an estimated $7.6 million from 2,374 theaters Friday, one of the lowest starts for the actress. (Based on prerelease tracking, Paramount had hoped for a debut in the $10 million to $12 million range.) The movie, earning only a B CinemaScore, skewed female (56 percent) and notably older, with nearly 90 percent of ticket buyers over the age of 25.
Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is based on journalist Kim Barker's memoir, The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman and Alfred Molina also star in the movie, whose producers include Lorne Michaels.
In other action, Oscar-winner Spotlight aggressively expanded into a total of 1,227 theaters following its best picture win, a bold gamble considering the movie is now available on DVD. Spotlightcame in No. 14 with $1.8 million to jump the $40 million mark and finish Sunday with $41.6 million domestically for Open Road Films. Sierra/Affinity is handling the movie overseas, where Spotlight has grossed an impressive $30.3 million for a worldwide tally of $71.9 million.
The big headline at the specialty box office was the poor showing of Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups. Opening in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles, the movie grossed $56,668 for a location average of $14,172. Broad Green Pictures is releasing the movie, which stars Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Wes Bentley, Brian Dennehy, Imogen Poots and Freida Pinto.