We are offering a limited cyber sale now that offers you savings of 75% at $1 a week. Don't miss out. Sign up now.Greetings!There was a time when U.S. blockbusters could count on the Chinese market for a healthy chunk of box office revenue, driving numerous films over the $1 billion mark. "Avengers: Endgame" and the "Fast and Furious" franchise thrived on China's love for big, bombastic American films. Heck, "Warcraft," a critical and commercial flop in the U.S., ended up being a huge hit thanks to Chinese audiences flocking to see the video game adaptation. Of course, that was before COVID hit and the entertainment business was completely upended. Now, Chinese audiences have soured on American blockbusters, with comic book films like this year's "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" and "Superman" showing disappointing grosses. It's part of a broader trend that's seen Asian audiences flock to homegrown films over Hollywood fare. Which makes "Zootopia 2's" success there over the weekend even more of a phenomenon. It also raises the question of whether there's a blueprint for success that other studios can follow. As our Jeremy Fuster writes, its box office performance — $271 million in China and $556 million globally — was powered by a concerted effort by Disney to nurture the franchise and specifically cultivate the fan base in China. Most importantly, it was something the company started doing after the first film — seen at the time as a modest hit in China with only $236 million in 2016 (my, how times have changed!). That included everything from pushing a Disney+ series, pumping out merch and brand collaborations and, most importantly, opening a "Zootopia"-themed section in Shanghai Disneyland — still the only Disney park to feature such an area. As Fuster notes, the Chinese audience embracing this film "is an example of a Hollywood studio taking organic excitement around an original story and spending a decade sustaining and growing it in ways that never felt like a foreign company trying to pander to a culture it isn’t rooted in." So while there's a takeaway here, it's not one that's easily replicated. On the contrary, it's a strategy that requires long-term vision and no guarantee of an immediate return. But as seen with "Zootopia 2," the payoff could be huge. Roger Cheng 
So how big was "Zootopia 2"? Let's give the numbers some context... 
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