Turnstile Record

The trades tell us:

‘Zootopia’ $75.1M Opening Is A Record For Original Disney Toon

... While Zootopia beat Frozen‘s $67.4M wide opening out of the gate, whether it beats that film’s $400.7M is another question. Non-Disney distrib chiefs don’t think it can, despite having a mass and critical groundswell of 99% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Some have it with a final B.O. in the high $200M range. Frozen was a true fangirl movie that benefited from year-end holiday traffic, and Zootopia is playing to staggered spring break schedules. ...

Recent animated features headlining furry animals (and not named Norm of the North) have done remarkably well at the box office. The only animal misfire (or perhaps "reptilian under-achiever) is The Good Dinosaur, which failed to dazzle critics and ended up with $313,822,864.

A gross of $300 million is usually attached to a hit. But when the movie costs $200,000,000 and a lot more than that to market, profits will be non-existent. Nevertheless, outside of Dinosaur, both Disney's and Pixar's animation units have been on a roll.