Remember when everyone said the movie theater was dead? Yeah, me too. Then Thanksgiving 2025 rolled around and families across America basically laughed in the face of that idea.
I walked out of my local cinema on Black Friday night and the place was absolutely packed. Kids in Zootopia ears, teenagers singing Wicked songs, grandparents buying the biggest popcorn they could carry – it felt like the holidays had officially arrived. Turns out I wasn’t imagining things. The numbers that dropped this weekend are nothing short of stunning.
A Thanksgiving Weekend for the History Books
Let’s just cut to the chase: the five-day Thanksgiving frame is tracking for around $294 million domestically. That’s not just good. That’s potentially the third or fourth highest Thanksgiving haul ever recorded. Only 2018 and last year’s insane $424 million weekend (thank you, Moana 2) sit above it.
And honestly? In a year that’s felt shaky for theaters after a brutal post-summer slump, this feels like the industry exhaling a massive sigh of relief.
Zootopia 2 Just Rewrote the Animated Rulebook
Disney dropped Zootopia 2 and it landed like a meteor. $156 million domestic over the five-day weekend. But the global story is even wilder – $556 million worldwide in its opening frame. That makes it the biggest global launch for an animated movie in history. Fourth biggest global opening period, animated or not.
Think about that for a second. Nearly half a billion dollars from families around the world deciding that yes, they absolutely needed to see Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde chase a mysterious reptile on the big screen. In 2025 money. During a cost-of-living squeeze. That’s not normal. That’s cultural event territory.
This film truly cracked the code on what family audiences around the world are looking for when venturing out to cinemas.
– Senior Comscore analyst
He’s not wrong. Sometimes a sequel comes along that feels less like a cash grab and more like a warm hug from your childhood. From everything I’m hearing, Zootopia 2 is one of those rare follow-ups that actually justifies its existence.
IMAX Just Had Its Best Thanksgiving Ever (By a Mile)
Here’s a stat that made me do a double take: IMAX pulled in $40.8 million globally over the five days. That’s 70% higher than their previous Thanksgiving record. Seventy. Percent.
The CEO called it a “phenomenal one-two punch” between Zootopia 2 and Wicked: For Good. I love that phrase because it’s exactly what this weekend felt like – two heavyweights landing clean shots and the box office reeling in the best way possible.
How Wicked: For Good Held Its Own
Universal’s Wicked: For Good added another $93 million domestically over the holiday frame. Yes, that’s down from the first Wicked’s monster $118 million last year, but context matters. It faced direct competition from the biggest family movie of all time and still managed to nearly hit triple digits.
More importantly, these two films aren’t really eating each other’s lunch. They’re pulling different crowds – little kids and their parents for Zootopia, teens and musical theater fans for Wicked. It’s the rare weekend where counter-programming actually worked perfectly.
Why This Matters Beyond the Raw Numbers
Look, anyone can report ticket sales. But this weekend felt different. Maybe it’s because theaters have had such a rough few months. Maybe it’s because families finally had movies worth bundling the kids into the minivan for. Whatever the reason, walking into a packed cinema on Thanksgiving weekend reminded me why these places matter.
There’s something magical about shared laughter rippling through a theater when a joke lands. About kids gasping in unison during the big moments. About strangers bonded for two hours over animated animals solving crimes. Streaming can’t replicate that, no matter how convenient it is.
- Biggest animated global opening ever
- Second-highest Thanksgiving 5-day for any film
- IMAX’s best Thanksgiving weekend by 70%
- Two family-friendly blockbusters co-existing beautifully
- Nearly $300 million domestic in one weekend
That’s not just a good weekend. That’s the kind of performance that keeps movie theaters in business. The kind that justifies those massive construction loans for new cinema complexes. The kind that tells studio executives that yes, people will still leave their houses for the right film.
What Happens Next?
Here’s where it gets really interesting. Both Zootopia 2 and Wicked: For Good have long legs ahead of them. Christmas vacation starts in a few weeks. Schools are out. Parents are desperate for entertainment that doesn’t involve another viewing of whatever’s on Disney+ for the 47th time.
Then you’ve got Avatar: Fire and Ash looming on the horizon, plus whatever other surprises the studios have been keeping quiet. In my experience, a strong Thanksgiving performance often signals a strong December. Families get in the habit of going to the movies, and that habit tends to stick through New Year’s.
This weekend didn’t just break records. It might have just saved 2025’s box office narrative.
So if you’re one of those people who loves claiming “nobody goes to the movies anymore,” maybe take a walk past your local theater this weekend. Watch the lines. Listen to the excited chatter. Smell the popcorn.
The cinema isn’t dead. This Thanksgiving, it roared back to life.
