Disney dominates the US box office with Zootopia 2 but fails with Ella McCay

The film by James L. Brooks, directed by Frenchwoman Emma Mackey, did not get off to the expected start.

Disney had a two-speed weekend at the US box office.

On the one hand, the studio with big ears continues to be a hit with Zootopia 2which even regains first place for its third week of operation.

The animated film passed the billion dollar mark in worldwide revenue and grossed $26.3 million over the weekend, down a moderate 39%. Its total has now reached 259 million in North America and 1.13 billion worldwide, making it only the third film of the year to cross the symbolic milestone of one billion, after Ne Zha 2 And Lilo & Stitch

On the other hand, Disney with its 20th Century Studio – for indie films – suffered a catastrophic start for Ella McCaypolitical drama with a comedic tone, which collapsed with only $2.1 million for its launch. The film, led by Frenchwoman Emma Mackey, cost around $35 million. If the film will clearly not be profitable, this PG-13 rated failure should not turn into an industrial accident and cause an internal earthquake. Written and directed by James L. Brooks, co-creator of The Simpsons and director of For worse and for better, Ella McCay does even worse than the already modest projections, which counted on 4 million. The reason for this crash is no mystery: the reviews have been disastrous, particularly pointing the finger at the storyline. The film will be released in France on January 7.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2who managed to take first place last weekend, after an excellent launch, fell to second place. The horror film grossed $20 million, a severe drop of 69% after a first weekend of 64 million. The decline is steep, but remains less violent than that of the first opus, which plunged by more than 76% in the second week during its simultaneous streaming release. With a budget limited to 36 million and already 95 million in domestic revenue (more than 150 million worldwide), the sequel nevertheless remains a very good financial operation for Blumhouse.

In the rest of the US box office rankings, we can note that Wicked 2 remains solid across the Atlantic and remains on the podium, with $8.3 million for its fourth weekend (-52%). The Universal musical now has 311 million in the United States and 450 million worldwide. A solid score, but significantly below the pace of Wicked version 2024, which ended its run at 474 million in North America and 758 million worldwide.

Finally, note the very good performance of Dhurandhara 3h30 Indian epic film, which is in 4th position at the US box office, even though it is only screened in 377 theaters (-13). Directed by Aditya Dhar and directed by Ranveer Singh, the feature film posted particularly impressive figures in major cities and totaled 3.5 million, up sharply (+78%) this weekend. Its total has now reached 7.9 million dollars in two weeks in North America and almost 60 million worldwide.