'Zootopia' breaks a Disney record while trampling 'London Has Fallen' at Thursday box office

"Zootopia" trampled "London Has Fallen" at the Thursday night box office, and broke a Disney record in the process.

The animated comedy, which has been almost unanimously praised by critics counted on Rotten Tomatoes, roared to $1.7 million, while the Gerard Butler action sequel managed to make $850,000 from 2,400 domestic locations.

"Zootopia" is now Disney's highest-grossing Thursday night opening for a non-summer animation movie.

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"Big Hero 6" (2014) opened to $1.4 million, whereas "Frozen" (2013) made $1.2 million at the Thursday previews.

"Zootopia" had 100 percent on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes up until this morning. Now, it it certified "fresh" at 99 percent with 98 positive reviews, and one negative.

Disney's latest animated feature is tracking for $65 million. If it reaches that gross, it would finally dethrone Ryan Reynolds' "Deadpool," which has reigned the box office for three consecutive weeks and is looking to make around $18 million this upcoming one.

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"London Has Fallen" is also looking to outnumber "Deadpool." Butler's latest is tracking in the $18 million to $20 million range — if it does the latter, the new action film will come in second place for the weekend.

"Gods of Egypt," also starring Butler, opened last weekend to $800,000 and ended up bombing at the box office with a $14 million debut due to its monster budget of $140 million. "London Has Fallen" has a little more modest of a budget, with $105 million.

Butler is up to his same old tricks again in the sequel to "Olympus has Fallen," this time in London for the Prime Minister's funeral where his character, Mike Banning, discovers a plot to assassinate all the world's leaders. Morgan Freeman and Aaron Eckhart also star, and the film currently sports a score of 23 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Tina Fey's dramedy, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot," the weekend's other newcomer, is looking to gross between $10 million to $12 million.

Starring Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina and Billy Bob Thornton, the movie is basked on the memoir by Kim Baker titled, "The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan."

The film currently holds a score of 57 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

"Zootopia" stars Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Shakira, Bonnie Hunt, J.K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer and Jenna Slate and takes place in a city full of animals where a fugitive con-artist fox (Bateman) and a bunny cop (Goodwin) band together to uncover a conspiracy.

The animated feature film had a strong start overseas, grossing more than $98 million after having opened in China, Germany and Russia.