Walt Disney Animation’s “Zootopia 2” and Universal’s Broadway musical adaptation “Wicked: For Good” delivered movie theaters a much-needed one-two punch (吸引力) for the US holiday weekend box office.

“Zootopia 2” was put on last Wednesday, kicking off a five-day Thanksgiving opening weekend. Its $156 million estimated box office is the second-best five-day Thanksgiving debut (首映), behind Disney’s animated adventure movie “Moana 2”, which opened in 2024 to $225 million in the US.

“Disney has made it an event that comes almost every year over the Thanksgiving holiday,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Comscore. “Families just loved ‘Zootopia 2’ in such a deep way.”

The end-of-year holiday season is as important to Hollywood as the highly lucrative summer season — a period when many hugely successful movies earned billions of dollars at the box office — especially when coming off of a historically bad October, noted Shawn Robbins, director of analytics (分析学) at Fandango and founder of analytics firm Box Office Theory.

Hollywood stuck to its strategy from last year, when a “Wicked” film and an animated follow-up movie from Disney drew big audiences to theaters. Last weekend, “Wicked: For Good” went beyond expectations when it opened to $150 million in the US. It earned another $62.8 million Friday through Sunday, bringing its US total to $270.4 million.

“We’re getting spoiled by these last two years. It’s really hard to pull that off,” Robbins said. “It also goes to show the power of films popular with women at the box office, because neither of these are male-driven hit movies.”

Together, “Wicked: For Good” and “Zootopia 2” earned a combined $249 million in the US over the five days, according to Comscore data. “Zootopia 2” also earned $400 million internationally, bringing it to an estimated $556 million globally. And “Wicked: For Good” has earned $393.25 million globally since its debut.

1.1. What is one reason that “Zootopia 2” in the US got high box office?

A Its attractive ticket price.

B Its holiday release date.

C Its famous male star.

D Its global popularity.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。文章明确提到《Zootopia 2》的上映时间为 “last Wednesday, kicking off a five-day Thanksgiving opening weekend”（上周三上映，开启为期五天的感恩节首映周末），且第三段指出 “Disney has made it an event that comes almost every year over the Thanksgiving holiday”（迪士尼将其打造成感恩节假期几乎每年都有的盛事）。这表明影片的高票房与 “假期上映日期” 直接相关。故选B。

2.2.The underlined word “lucrative” in the passage is closest in meaning to “________”.

A important

B money-making

C competitive

D relaxing

解析：选B。B词义猜测题。划线词 “lucrative” 所在句为 “the end-of-year holiday season is as important to Hollywood as the highly lucrative summer season — a period when many hugely successful movies earned billions of dollars at the box office”（年底假期季对好莱坞的重要性堪比利润丰厚的夏季档 —— 一个许多成功电影票房达数十亿美元的时期）。上下文 “earned billions of dollars”（赚数十亿美元）直接提示 “lucrative” 与 “赚钱” 相关。故选B。

3.3. Why does the author mention “Wicked”?

A To show a similar successful method.

B To criticize its box office performance.

C To explain the musical’s main plot.

D To compare it with “Moana 2”.

解析：选A。A推理判断题。文章第五段核心信息为 “Hollywood stuck to its strategy from last year, when a ‘Wicked’ film and an animated follow-up movie from Disney drew big audiences to theaters”（好莱坞延续了去年的策略 —— 去年《魔法坏女巫》电影和迪士尼的动画续集吸引了大量观众走进影院）。作者提及《Wicked》是为了说明今年《Wicked: For Good》和《Zootopia 2》的成功，是对去年 “音乐剧改编电影 + 迪士尼动画续集” 策略的重复，即 “展示类似的成功方法”。故选A。

4.4.What might Shawn Robbins agree?

A Male-driven movies are stronger.

B October was great for Hollywood.

C Female audiences’ power is significant.

D Repeating success isn’t hard.

解析：选C。C推理判断题。文章第六段引用 Shawn Robbins 的话：“It also goes to show the power of films popular with women at the box office”（这也表明了受女性欢迎的电影在票房上的力量）。由此可推断，他认同 “女性观众的力量很重要”。故选C。

5.5. What’s the best title for the passage?

A The Rise of Animated Movies.

B How to Attract Female Viewers.

C The Story of Two Famous Films.

D A Holiday Box Office Success.

解析：选D。D主旨大意题。文章开篇即点明核心：“Zootopia 2” 和 “Wicked: For Good” 在美国家庭假期周末票房中形成 “双重吸引力”，随后围绕两部影片的假期票房数据、成功原因（假期上映、女性观众偏好、策略延续）展开，全程聚焦 “假期票房成功” 这一核心主题。故选D。