Moana 2roared into theaters with an estimated domestic total of $221 million (perThe Numbers) to win the five-day holiday weekend en route to breaking severalbox officerecords along the way.Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s latest big-screen collaboration with Disney went down as the biggest opening-weekend debut of any film during the fall movie season — a record previously held by last week’s No. 1Wicked($112.5 million).
Additionally,No. 1Moana 2brokeThe Super Mario Bros. Movie’sbiggest five-day opening weekend record of $204.6 million with its $221 million take, not to mention the animated adventure representing the best Thanksgiving premiere in history. Plus, the combination of theMoanasequel,Wicked,andGladiator IIled to a record-breaking Thanksgiving weekend (five-day) overall (all titles) with $420 million. And the lucrative revelation led to AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron declaring the holiday weekend was“a national phenomenon”(perX,formerly Twitter).
And as if those accolades weren’t enough,Moana 2’s$54.5 million on Friday, Nov. 29 also represented the biggest Black Friday in history. The Johnson-led family flick also fared well overseas with an additional $165.3 million internationally for a worldwide total of $386.3 million. Meanwhile,WickedandGladiator IIcontinued to thrive, despite the competition.
‘Wicked’ & ‘Gladiator II’ Continue to Thrive Despite ‘Moana 2’
Last weekend’s No. 1 film,Wicked,finished behindMoana 2for the silver medal with an estimated $117.6 million (five-day), and the Broadway musical’s big-screen adaptation held extremely well between its first and second weekends with only a 29% drop. Meanwhile, the Denzel Washington-ledGladiator IIchecked in at No. 3 with $44 million.
At the time of this writing, both blockbusters were also booming overseas. Director Jon M. Chu’sWickedhas made an additional $96.8 million for a worldwide total of $359.3 million. And Ridley Scott’s long-awaitedGladiator(2000) follow-up performed even better across the pond, and beyond, with $208.8 million for a global tally of $320 million.
Red Onemarked the second ofDwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s filmsto be ranked in the Top 5 this weekend, as the holiday flick claimed to the No. 4 spot with $12.9 million (three-day), having only dropped 2% since last week. AndThe Best Christmas Pageant Everalso held well, dropping a mere 4% to round out the Top 5 with $3.3 million.
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Moana 2laid claim to the weekend’s best per-theater average with $32,262, whileWicked’s$20,576 was also jaw-dropping to be sure.And it is worth noting that the A24 filmQueeropened in limited release (7 venues) over the holiday weekend, too. The Daniel Craig-led rom-dram boasted an impressive per-theater average of $26,973, which was good enough to crack the Top 15 with a total of $188,808.
Moana 2’ssuccess also reiterated that 2024 continues to bethe year of the sequel at the box office.Sonic the Hedgehog 3(Dec. 20) will have an opportunity to continue the theme through the end of the year, but the first weekend of December seems a bit bleak as far as contenders to derail theMoanasequel,Wicked,andGladiator IIare concerned.
In fact, next week’s most intriguing title might actually be the re-release of Christopher Nolan’sInterstellarin IMAX — no offense to the Amy Adams horror-comedyNightbitch, which opens onDec. 6,along withWerewolves, The Order, Y2K,andThe Return.
Moana 2 is the sequel to the 2016 animated film Moana. Directed by David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller, the film continues the journey of Moana as she embarks on new adventures, exploring the vast Pacific Ocean while encountering new characters and challenges along the way.
