Moana 2 Continues Disney’s Year of Box Office Wins

Disney’s always tried to have at least one major movie out during the holiday season, and this year’s opening salvo is Moana 2. Originally a Disney+ series boosted up to silver screen status, there’ve been a lot of eyes on how it’d be received—and perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s already made a looooooot of money.

Variety reports Moana 2 has currently made $386.3 million worldwide, with $221 million coming from North America over its initial five-day run. That’s big numbers: not only does that beat previous Thanksgiving records set by Frozen II ($125 million) and Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($109 million), it also tops last year’s Super Mario Bros. ($205.6 million) as the biggest five-day debut ever, and Frozen II as the best start for a Disney Animation film. Box office analysts initially pegged Moana 2 to make $135 million in North America, but that didn’t seem to take people really loving the original movie into account.

In a statement, Disney Entertainment co-chair Alan Bergman said Moana 2 “far surpassed our high expectations this weekend and is a testament to the phenomenon that Moana has become.” Despite mixed reactions, an open this strong validates the studio’s call to convert the sequel from its original TV origins and remake the original movie with Dwayne Johnson reprising Maui. It also builds on the studio’s hot streak of 2024 hits, thanks mainly to summer smashes Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2.

Fellow holiday hits Wicked: Part One and Gladiator II continued to be equally big in their own ways. The Wizard of Oz musical added another $80 million to its North American haul, resulting in a $262.4 million take for the country and $359.2 million internationally thus far. (Get ready for that sing-along version hitting theaters on Christmas to do even bigger numbers!) Meanwhile, Gladiator II made another $44 million in North America during the holiday, bringing its total up to $111.2 million domestic and $320 million worldwide.

In total, Moana 2, Wicked, and Gladiator II made $425 million in revenue for the North American box office during Thanksgiving, surpassing the $315 million record previously set back in 2018. The biggest competition for all three will be Mufasa and Sonic 3 on December 20, but before that, there’s Werewolves on December 6, followed by December 13’s Kraven the Hunter and Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim. 

Until then, let us know what you thought of this weekend’s trio of films (if you saw them) in the comments below.

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