‘Moana 2’ Set To Shatter Thanksgiving Box Office Records With $135 Million+ Opening Weekend
Wednesday Update: “Moana 2” crashed into theaters with $13.8 million in Tuesday preview box office receipts. That’s a new record for Disney animated films, surpassing “Inside Out 2’s” $13 million Thursday preview last June, and “Toy Story 4,” which took in $12 million in Thursday previews in 2019. Those films went on to earn $154 million and $121 million, respectively, during their three-day opening weekends. “Moana 2” is expected to take in between $135 – $145 million over the five-day holiday weekend, which would be an all-time Thanksgiving record. “Frozen II” currently holds the turkey weekend record with $125 million, followed by “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” with $109 million. With “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” still going strong, this is expected to be one of the biggest weekends ever at the box office.
What will be the winners and the losers this week at the U.S. box office? Walt Disney Studios’ “Moana 2” is the only major new release set to open in theaters on Wednesday, hoping to ride the wave of Thanksgiving weekend ticket sales. It’ll be facing off against the current top five money-makers: “Wicked,” “Gladiator II,” “Red One,” “Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.,” and “Venom: The Last Dance.”
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Gold Derby predicts that “Moana 2” will win the Nov. 29 – Dec. 1 weekend with more than $125 million domestically. “Wicked” is the runner-up choice of our odds-makers. Do you agree or disagree with those rankings? Make your predictions right now — it’s fun and easy! Join the box office discussion in our forums.
NEW RELEASES
“Moana 2” (dir. David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller) is the highly-anticipated sequel to 2016’s “Moana.” The Walt Disney Studios film reunites Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) and Maui (Dwayne Johnson) for an expansive new voyage alongside a crew of unlikely seafarers. After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced. “Moana 2” features the voices of Temuera Morrison as Moana’s father Tui, Nicole Scherzinger as Moana’s mother Sina, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda as Moana’s little sister Simea, and many more. It has a running time of one hour, 40 minutes, and is rated PG.
BOX OFFICE PREDICTIONS
Box office pundits are predicting a “Moanapocalypse” over Thanksgiving weekend. Ticketing company Fandango even reported that first-day advance sales for “Moana 2” were the highest of any animated movie in 2024, including the mega-blockbuster “Inside Out 2.” It was the fourth-highest showing this year, trailing only “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Wicked,” and “Dune: Part Two.” That’s undoubtedly why so many of Gold Derby’s users are predicting that the Disney film will sail away with the first-place honor.
However, don’t count out “Wicked” just yet. The musical starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande is still flying high after it’s historic opening last week. The Universal Pictures movie directed by Jon M. Chu raked in over $114 million domestically, dethroning “Into the Woods” (2014) as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a film adaptation of a Broadway musical.
Here are Gold Derby’s current box office rankings for the top five:
1. “Moana 2”
2. “Wicked”
3. “Gladiator II”
4. “Red One”
5. “Venom: The Last Dance”
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