The folks at Disney have plenty to be thankful this weekend as Moana 2 managed to break all previous Thanksgiving Day records with an impressive $28 million at the U.S. box office. Directed by David G. Derrick, Jr, Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller, the much-anticipated sequel took the number one spot, breaking the previous Turkey Day record, which was held by Frozen 2 (2019) with $14.9 million. Disney is estimating that the movie will make over $175 million during this five-day weekend period this week, but others predict Moana 2 might hit the big $200 million benchmark. Moana 2 is also expected to be voice star Dwayne Johnson’s second highest opening of all-time (after Furious 7‘s $147.1 million)
During its first two days at the box office, Moana 2 made about $85.5 million Stateside, while its worldwide numbers are about $110 million. On Tuesday, the movie scored $13.8 million in previews, which made it the best day ever for a Disney Animation title, and the third best opening for an animated movie after Incredibles 2 ($71.2 million) and Inside Out 2 ($62 million).
According to Deadline.com, Moana 2 had an impressively diverse audience: with 36% Hispanic and Latino, 27% Black, 18% Caucasian and 11% Asian American on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak. Despite the audience enthusiasm for the movie, critics didn’t embrace the movie wholeheartedly as the sequel only scored a 65 % score on the review compilation site, RottenTomatoes.com.
Here are the estimated numbers for the five-day Thanksgiving weekend period, ending on Sunday, Dec.1:
- Moana 2 (Disney) $175 million (first week)
- Wicked (Universal) $97.1 million (Total $242 million, second week)
- Gladiator (Paramount) $40 million (Total $107.2 million, second week)
- The Wild Robot (Uni/DreamWorks) $840,000 Total (Total $142.3 million, tenth week)
Source: Deadline.com, Variety, Boxofficemojo.com
