Disney took on Disney at the global box office and… Disney won. Since May, Lilo & Stitch has been the highest-grossing movie of the year, in Hollywood terms, but now it has lost its mayhem-filled crown to Zootopia 2. What is more impressive is that it has taken the new sequel just two weeks to smash through $1.13 billion and become the biggest Hollywood movie of 2025.
While the massive Chinese animated release, Ne-Zha 2, remains the biggest overall movie of the year with $1.9 billion, it looks like Zootopia 2’s success has now guaranteed Disney to end the year with the three highest-grossing Hollywood movies of the year, with Avatar: Fire and Ash preparing to bring December to a close with another $1 billion release.
Disney Has Dominated the Box Office…but Not in the Way It Was Expected
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
After a few troubled years following the Covid pandemic, Disney has been finding its feet again as a box office dominator. The House of Mouse has still had some failures – Snow White, Thunderbolts – but has more importantly followed up 2024’s top-grossing trio of Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Moana 2 with another Top Three-dominating finish.
What is more, is that Disney’s future looks brighter than it has for several years, as 2026 and 2027 is packed with some huge movies from two of the biggest franchises in the world – with others along for the ride.
In 2026, Moana will return in a live-action remake, hoping to repeat the success of Lilo & Stitch and being buoyed by the global box office of Moana 2 last year. The summer will see the release of Toy Story 5, Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Mandalorian & Grogu, and then December is set to deliver the MCU’s biggest movie since Endgame, Avengers: Doomsday.
The following year, some unnamed Marvel projects will lead to what could well be the biggest MCU movie of all time with Avengers: Secret Wars, and the Star Wars franchise will also be back on the big screen again with Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter. Disney will also be releasing Frozen 3, once again, almost guaranteeing that Disney will end the year with the three biggest movies of the year for possibly the fourth year in a row.
Nothing is certain in the world of movies right now, especially with Netflix and Warner Bros. potential merger leading to potential upheaval in the future, but it seems that despite many believing that Disney has had its day, you can’t keep the mouse down for long.
