The Boxoffice Podium
Forecasting the Top 3 Movies at the Domestic Box Office | November 26 – 30, 2025
Week 48 | November 26 – 30, 2025
1. Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Pictures | NEW
Weekend Range: $100M – $125M 3-Day | $125M – $150M 5-Day
Pros
- Last Thanksgiving Disney’s Moana 2 ruled the holiday weekend with $139.78M (biggest Disney Animation opening ever) over the 3-Day and $225.4M across the 5-Day. Like that sequel, Zootopia 2 is another followup to a 2016 Disney animated smash, although in theory it should generate even more interest since the first Moana only did $684.3M globally, while Zootopia brought in over $1B. When that first movie opened in March of 2016 it held the record for biggest non-Pixar Disney animated opening ($75M vs Frozen‘s $67.4M), eventually taking in $341.26M which is still the fourth-biggest Disney Animation grosser. Zootopia has also been a perennial favorite on Disney+ since the streaming platform launched, and the 4-minute Special Look at Zootopia 2 was recently their third most-watched item globally. This title also has an advantage over Wicked 2 with under 12’s, while early reactions are also overwhelmingly positive.
Cons
- Our forecasting panel gives Zootopia 2 a distinct advantage over Wicked: For Good, especially since Wicked will be in its second frame, with less demand. However, even with the Disney brand and a beloved IP, Zootopia is tracking for a softer opening than Moana 2 and—should it perform on the lower end of expectations—could conceivably concede the 3-Day or the 5-Day to Wicked 2. Also, the last movie earned 2/3 of its box office tally overseas, and those markets have been very soft this year (although word is China pre-sales are strong). The studio has had a rough year overseas, though Lilo & Stitch‘s $1B+ WW proved some brands break through. Still, the Disney marketing bonanza is in full throttle mode, ala Regal‘s Gary the snake popcorn buckets and furry Nick the fox headbands.
2. Wicked: For Good
Universal Pictures | Week 2
Weekend Range: $85M – $110M 3-Day | $110M – $135M 5-Day
Pros
- Universal’s Wicked: For Good enjoyed a huge debut weekend last frame with $147M over the 3-Day (down $3M from Sunday projections). Although the tight race between Wicked and Zootopia 2 is going to be a close one, we expect those big Wicked pre-sales to be reflected in this week’s box office as well as last week. The film starring Cynthia Erivo is, like last year’s Part 1, expected to be a huge mother/daughter draw, with even more friend groups attending this past weekend than last year. With no Gladiator II-style counter-programming, Wicked is likely the default general audience movie this frame over the more kiddie-driven Zootopia.
Cons
- Going up against a big Disney animated sequel is a trial-by-fire test of Wicked 2’s legs. The good news can be found in the sophomore frame of the last film, which only dropped -28% in Frame 2 despite competition from Gladiator II, Red One, and Moana 2. The first Wicked grossed $81.17M over the 3-Day Thanksgiving, and we see the lowball figure for this new one to do better than that.
3. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t
Lionsgate | Week 3
Weekend Range: $4M – $5M 3-Day | $5M – $6M 5-Day
Pros
- Lionsgate’s threequel Now You See Me: Now You Don’t earned $8.95M in its sophomore frame, with its domestic total now at $36.66M while the global total is well past the century mark at $147.29M. The positive note for this title is there appears to be little competition (Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, the romantic fantasy Eternity) for the general audience/grown up dollar this holiday weekend. For whatever it’s worth, we expect Netflix’s Knives Out sequel Wake Up Dead Man to be a nonplayer, expecting it to come in on the bottom half of the Top 10 if grosses are reported.
Cons
- The second weekend for Now You See Me 3 was softer than the $9.37M Now You See Me 2 earned in its sophomore frame nearly a decade ago. It’s looking like we will not hit a record like last year, mostly because anemic holdovers like Now You See Me and Running Man didn’t add up to one Gladiator II as hoped, but it should be a great weekend nonetheless.
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