Disney’s Zootopia has been creating news at the box office in the recent past due to its massive collections at various markets worldwide especially in China. And now, the animated film is on par to compete with largest animated feature of China Kung Fu Panda 3.
According to a report in Forbes, on the 9th and 10th days of its China run after its official release in China on 4 March, 2016, Zootopia crushed the single-day record gross of RMB 127 million (US $19.5 million) for animated feature films in China that was set last month by Kung Fu Panda 3.
Further, Zootopia opened with $24 million in China while Kung Fu Panda 3 opened with $57.9 million in China, counting $6.4 million worth of previews from its previous week. This indicates that Zootopia had a comparatively low opening than the Panda sequel.
However, Zootopia gained pace each day and has now garnered $109 million from China itself. Kung Fu Panda 3 is still the highest grossing animated feature of China as it has earned $149.1 million from the Chinese market. So, this concludes that Disney’s Zootopia still has a long way to go to surpass DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 3 but the rate at which Zootopia is performing at the Chinese box office indicates that probably it can bridge this gap of few millions.
Another interesting fact that draws eyeballs is that Zootopia is not a Chinese culture film; it does not have the Chinese element distinctly. Still, it has baffled the Chinese audience and created ripples at their market both on the monetary and entertainment front. Kung Fu Panda 3 on the other hand has a Chinese feel in terms of background and characters, Shanghai based animation studio Oriental DreamWorks having worked on it majorly and it also had a Mandarin version specifically to cater to the local Chinese audience. All this states that Kung Fu Panda 3 was made with a view to target the Chinese audience and tap profits from the Chinese market. On the contrary, Disney didn’t create Zootopia with a Chinese view although it considered China as a huge profit market.
And the results are astonishing as Zootopia which is not even a sequel of a well established franchise is giving a heads on competition to the massive Panda franchise which is a well established brand in the minds of viewers worldwide. It won’t come as a surprise if Zootopia outdoes Kung Fu Panda 3 in China in the coming days bearing in mind the rate at which the Disney adventure is gearing.
