Category: Entertainment

Zootopia 2 continues to make history at the box office.

On Tuesday, the Disney Animation Studios blockbuster passed up A Minecraft Movie ($423.9 million) to rank as the highest-grossing domestic release of 2025 with $424.2 million in ticket sales. The Oscar-nominated pic was already the top-grossing Hollywood title of the year at both the global and international box office, animated or otherwise.

That’s not all. The latest milestone caps one of the most surprising, and remarkable, runs in the history of the genre. When the sequel opened over Christmas, no one could predicted it would become the top-grossing animated film of all time, not adjusted for inflation. Through Tuesday, the film’s global haul stood at roughly $1.85 billion.

The sequel opened to a record-breaking $559.5 million globally over its five-day Christmas launch, the largest animated opening in history for the genre on its way to becoming both the fastest animated or PG film ever to reach $1 billion, a task it completed in 17 days.

Now in its 13th week, the film has remained in the top 10 domestically for 13 consecutive weeks.

And it’s the first Hollywood film in recent memory to do mega-business in China, where it has earned north of $650 billion to become the top-grossing Western film of all time, surpassing Avengers: Endgame. It has also shattered records in markets across the globe.

To boot, it ranks No. 8 on the list of the all-time, highest-grossing Hollywood films, unadjusted.

And, excluding China, Zootopia 2 has outgrossed the entire worldwide total of the original Zootopia, which topped out at $1.025 billion following its release in 2016.

When Moses Sumney decided it was time to make the leap from music into film, the indie singer-songwriter had a distinct guiding principle: “Well, who’s doing cool shit?” 

One studio seemed to set the mold. 

“Who has positioned themselves as a cultural leader,” Sumney says. “That’s a more interesting question to me than who has the most money or commercial output. It was like that when I was looking for a label too. I think it’s just so obvious that A24 is the one. This was especially important three or four years ago when I was thinking about getting into it, it’s more broadly clear now.”

Sumney — who had roles in A24’s The Idol and MaXXXine — describes a common refrain among today’s recording artists dipping their toes into broader entertainment. While he says wasn’t specifically seeking out A24, he notes he’s a longtime fan of the studio, and seeing a co-sign from the studio on projects is a firm affirmation.

“I wasn’t telling my team ‘get me all the A24 scripts,’” Sumeny, repped by UTA, says. “But I think it’s one of the deciding factors in considering if I want to pursue being in something. And I know the only vision that I have to trust is that of the director and not of the people trying to make their money back.”

With its auteur reputation as a champion of modern arthouse cinema, A24 has become the undisputed king of the musician-to-actor crossover, evidenced most recently with perpetual pop star Charli XCX’s The Moment, which had its wide release on Feb. 6, where it has grossed $3.8 million from around 600 theaters. But Charli is only the latest moment. The studio’s been a regular platform for artist appearances big and small, going back to 2013 breakout Spring Breakers, which featured both pop star actress Selena Gomez in a leading role, as well as Atlanta rap royalty Gucci Mane in his first and only feature film role to date. 

Since then, among many more, A24 has given feature length debuts to the likes of Doechii, Megan Thee Stallion, Snail Mail, The Weeknd, Sumney and most-recently Tyler, the Creator, who co-starred alongside Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme. Gracie Abrams, meanwhile, will make her film debut through an A24 project from Babygirl director Halina Reijn. Other musician-actors who’ve worked with the studio include Kid Cudi in X and MaXXXine, Brandy in The Front Room and Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst in I Saw the TV Glow and Y2K.

Meanwhile, Phoebe Bridgers will make her own feature length starring debut opposite Robert Pattinson in the Lance Oppenheim-directed A24 film Primetime. 

“A24 very much recognizes that music artists are equally in the zeitgeist as actors, and they want to fully realize musicians’ desires to act,” says CAA agent Dan Kim, who helps shepherding screen roles for the agency’s music roster on the film music crossover team.

Lindsey Jordan, best known for her indie music project Snail Mail, had her film debut with I Saw The TV Glow in 2024, which along with Durst also featured a cameo from Bridgers. She’d told her music team she was looking to get into acting, and “by a weird coincidence” before they could even start laying the groundwork to get her auditions, the film team had gotten in touch with her about the project. 

“A24 wasn’t the only studio I was trying to work with,” Jordan says. “But I was already a huge fan, and that was like a big pipe dream for me, to be like ‘cool, A24 movie,’ that’s the sickest thing ever. It feels like resurrecting a tradition of something like Debbie Harry and Videodrome. It makes sense to me that that’s where it would happen.”

A24 itself declined to comment for this story. But it’s not surprising A24 would look to bring in recording artists as synonymous with art and culture as their films are. Kim tells THR that A24 “often comes to us asking for artists who want to act.”

That was the case for Brandy, who starred in 2024’s The Front Room, Kim says, adding that A24 executives told him they were a fan of Brandy, and that they’d discussed with the directors (the Eggers brothers) about getting her a role.

“A24 is taking a risk on musicians who may not have the breadth of acting experience actors have, which is appealing to musicians who want to be part of a great piece of art,” Kim says. 

A24 and artists have a bit of a symbiotic relationship. These artists want acting roles — particularly ones that get them cultural clout and not just a check — and A24 is seeking castings that co-sign their project’s zeitgeist-y relevancy. But bringing in even respected musicians may not always lead to a big box office gross, as The Front Room reflected, with that picture only grossing just over $3 million and coming and going with little fanfare. Still, so far it hasn’t seemed to stop the castings.

While the trend is helping artists expand their empires, a more cynical take would be that for A24, the quality of the castings themselves is irrelevant, and that the play is merely about marketing rather than artistic drive. Often, A24 brings in musicians in lower screen time supporting and cameo parts, a much smaller creative and commercial risk than a lead spot that still allows the company to get an A-List name in a press release and generate buzz online without relinquishing the most consequential roles.

To A24’s credit, the artist roster the studio has amassed does feel carefully curated. The A24 artist archetype leans as much cool as commercial, with a Pitchfork Best New Music distinction as crucial if not more so than a high Spotify monthly listener count. Just being popular alone isn’t enough. With no disrespect to groups like Imagine Dragons or Nickelback, it seems unlikely those sorts of acts land roles in these projects anytime soon. 

Jordan and Sumney acknowledge that line of thinking but argue A24’s track record has proven the studio’s commitment to art as well. Sumney said it was “always obvious” when he’d get inquiries where acts were more interested in him because of his artist status rather than his acting. He adds that he spent time in acting classes and pivoting to theater to hone in on his skills. He says it’s “important that I’m a good actor not just good for a musician” but also acknowledges films need to be strategic about castings to drum up interest in a project. 

“Brilliant casting directors are able to synthesize what audiences want to see with who’s the best for the role,” Sumney says. “I’m not in those rooms, and I think it really is up to the directors to cast who they want to cast, which is not always the case at studios. But realistically in this modern era, you need people who are not only going to get butts in seats, but are going to help you get your thing made.”

As Jordan adds: “I know a little bit of who else auditioned where I’m like, ‘that could have been better for y’all to bring more people out,’” she says with a chuckle. “I’m a little torn there. I’ve never been in any position to be like, ‘I hope they’re not using me for my like, indie cred.’ The whole time it was just so good to be here. It felt to me like the director and the casting people were cool.”

This story appeared in the Feb. 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe. 

Elle Fanning swears she wasn’t expecting an Oscar nomination for her work in Neon’s Sentimental Value. It’s a line actors have repeated frequently on the awards circuit; however, in Fanning’s case, it appears to ring true — best evidenced by her plans the night before and during the nominations announcement Jan. 22.

“I was not watching it,” Fanning candidly tells The Hollywood Reporter, admitting that she had talked herself out of thinking she would get nominated. She and her sister, actress Dakota Fanning, were both at their mom’s house when the nominations were announced.

“Dakota and I had gone out the night before. We had quite a late night,” she explains, laughing, adding that she was “dead asleep” when the nominations came out in the early morning hours but was awakened by her phone lighting up. She assumed the slew of congratulatory texts were related to the movie in general, not a best supporting actress nod.

“I couldn’t compute. I go out bleary-eyed, and I’m like, ‘Mom! Dakota! Wake up. I think I got it. I think I got it,’ ” Fanning says, noting the confusion of her mom and sister. “I looked like a crazed zombie who was walking in circles saying, ‘Is this real?’ “

Once Fanning played back the announcement livestream and was able to comprehend it indeed was real, it became a day of celebration for her and the rest of the cast and crew of the Norwegian film. Sentimental Value scored nine nominations, including another nod in the supporting actress category for co-star Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Stellan Skarsgard in the supporting actor category and Renate Reinsve for lead actress.

The film also received nods in the best picture, director, screenplay and international feature categories. But Fanning says the most exciting nod was Olivier Bugge Coutté’s editing nomination.

“What Olivier has done with the film, and the way that it is edited and constructed — I’m so happy that he wasn’t overlooked because it’s so particular and he has such a keen eye and was so essential to the film,” Fanning explains. “Editors — I’ve come to learn now in the producing process, too — hold the key to your performance in a lot of ways.”

Fanning says the Sentimental Value team, despite how cheesy it might sound, has become a tight-knit family since the movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. “The fact that the family was held together and that no one was left out and that we get to continue the celebration with each other is really meaningful,” says the 27-year-old actress. “I’ve been quite emotional about this whole experience. I’m still a little glassy-eyed and in shock over it all.”

Fanning, who counts films like 2014’s Maleficent, 2017’s The Beguiled and 2024’s A Complete Unknown and such television shows as The Great (2020-23) and 2022’s The Girl From Plainville — for which she earned an Emmy nomination — among her acting credits, long has been considered a veteran of the film industry. “I’ve been acting since I was 2. I’ve never gotten to have this experience before. [It’s] my first time being nominated [for an Oscar],” she notes. “It does really mean something to me, to be recognized by my peers. I don’t think you realize how special that feels until it happens.”

The Oscar nomination caps a big and certainly varied year for Fanning as an actress — Sentimental Value opened in theaters the same day as another Fanning-fronted film, Predator: Badlands. “You don’t know what projects are going to come to you or what’s being written at the time, but I have been very fortunate to be able to have these varied projects,” she says.

Fanning notes that she became aware at a young age that she didn’t want to be put in a box when it came to casting. “I like to be scared. I like to be terrified a bit and step into something new because I feel like that’s how I have to keep pushing myself,” she says. “Maleficent, that was amazing and it opened up a lot of doors for me in that sense, but then there’s a box; people want to put the Disney princess on you. I’m like, ‘Wait, don’t do that to me.’ “

In Sentimental Value, Fanning plays Rachel Kemp, an American actress hired to lead Skarsgard’s director Gustav Borg’s film. It’s far from Fanning’s most out-there character, but it did offer up some reflection. “We’re at different phases, but there was a little feeling while playing her that maybe I was looking back at a younger version of myself in this world,” Fanning explains.

“[There are] definitely feelings that she has had that I am familiar with, and I’ve had before about myself because when you’ve been doing it for a long time, the relationship to it ebbs and flows,” she continues. “There was something cathartic for me to play her.”

The irony of being nominated for this role in particular isn’t lost on Fanning. “To be recognized for a character who is actually struggling in her work and then at the end does a very brave thing and walks away from something she wants, that’s even meta in and of itself,” she says.

“Rachel Kemp is nominated,” she exclaims, laughing about how shocked her character would be. “Once she walks away from the part, I feel like it’s quite hopeful for her. The next thing she’ll do, she’ll really give it her all. She’ll be really good in it.”

As for Fanning’s next role, the actress is preparing for her long-awaited adaptation of The Nightingale, which she’s producing and starring in alongside her older sister. The project, which begins filming at the end of March, was first announced in 2019 and was initially delayed because of COVID-19 and then the “puzzle” of scheduling. “I don’t know what I’m going to do on the first day. Our first scene, I think [I’ll be] crying or laughing,” she says.

“She can’t boss me around,” Fanning jokes about what the dynamic with her sister will be like on set — while The Nightingale marks the first time they’ll star in a film together, Fanning did play the younger version of Dakota’s character in 2001’s I Am Sam. “We’re fellow actors who will try to keep reminding ourselves of that.”

This story appeared in the Feb. 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.