Blockbuster Buzz: 'Zootopia 2' Soars, While 'Ella McCay' Struggles at the Box Office

This weekend at the North American box office saw “Zootopia 2” maintain its dominant position, while “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” battled for the runner-up spot, leaving the new political dramedy “Ella McCay” to struggle for recognition. “Zootopia 2” claimed the No. 1 position, pulling in $6.2 million on its third Friday domestically, despite a 40% decline from the previous week. The animated sequel is projected to gross $26 million by Sunday.
A significant milestone for “Zootopia 2” was achieved on Friday as it crossed the $1 billion mark globally after just 17 days in theaters, making it the fastest PG-rated film ever to reach this figure. It is also the third movie in 2025 to hit the $1 billion milestone, following “Lilo & Stitch” with $1.03 billion and China’s “Ne Zha 2” with an impressive $1.9 billion.
Securing second place was “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” which earned $5.6 million on its second Friday in North American cinemas. This represented a sharp 81% decline from its opening weekend debut. Despite the drop, the film is expected to accumulate $20 million domestically during its sophomore outing, building on its stellar $64 million opening last weekend.
Newcomer “Ella McCay,” a political dramedy helmed by James L. Brooks—co-creator of “The Simpsons” and Oscar-winning director of films like “Terms of Endearment” and “As Good as It Gets”—faced a challenging debut. The film grossed only $850,000 on its opening day across 2,500 North American theaters, falling considerably short of its projected $4 million by Sunday. With a $35 million production budget, “Ella McCay” stars Emma Mackey as an up-and-coming politician grappling with work-life balance after being elected governor.
Rounding out the top five, “Wicked: For Good” claimed third place on Friday with $2.2 million domestically and is expected to reach $8.3 million by Sunday, pushing its North American total to $311 million. Fourth place was taken by “Dhurandhar,” an Indian Hindi-language spy thriller from B62 Studios, which grossed an estimated $930,000 on Friday and is projected to earn $3.2 million by Sunday. Finally, “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” the third installment in Lionsgate’s magical heist series, secured fifth place with $720,000 on Friday, aiming for $2.4 million by Sunday to bring its domestic cumulative to $59.4 million.
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