After shattering box office records and taking the nation by storm as the year's most popular animated feature, Zootopia might've have earned itself a sequel. Since debuting on March 4, the pop-culture soaked, society-driven, stereotype-breaking film has racked up $993 million across the globe.
Entertainment Weekly reports that movie directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore hint that there's enough material to have the story live on... whether it be through a sequel or an animated series. “We cut a lot out during the making of the film. We introduced districts that we talked about that couldn’t fit in, other characters that we eliminated from the movie. There’s a vast potential for this world, so I’d love to see something more come from it.” - Byron Howard Rich Moore also talked about things that were cut out, as well as what parts of the movie could be used as focal points for a new film: “There’s a part in the film where the train goes by Sahara Square and Hopps looks up at this huge palm tree hotel, and that palm tree hotel, we really designed to the nines. We designed the lobby, the interior, and [Shakira’s character] Gazelle at one point had a suite at the top. It was this super luxury Dubai-esque place, which would be an awesome setting in the future.”
With Mr. Big posing as a reimagined Godfather figure, and Mayor Bellwether ultimately being a wolf in sheep's clothing, it would be tough to top the villainous personalities-- but in the animal world, the opportunities are endless. Creators could branch off into a number of directions, and I'm sure for a future project they will "Try Everything."
Zootopia introduced us to multiple districts but couldn't set the scene in the allotted movie time. In future endeavors, we could see stories take place in Sahara Square, the Canal District or The Meadowlands. Perhaps the biggest thing a sequel could provide fans with is a closer look at the evolution of Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps' relationship. The ending of the film suggests that there may be a romantic interest... but throughout most of the movie, it seemed like it was a bunny [buddy] cop friendship.
Zootopia was a fantastic standalone movie, and it's right up there with the top Disney classic-- creating an in-movie universe so big and introducing a limitless list of characters, guests are hungry for more. Only time will tell, but the crew makes it seem that we haven't seen the last of Zootopia.