‘Moana 2’ Hooks $13M+ Preview Records For Walt Disney Animation Title & Pre-Thanksgiving Tuesday; ‘Wicked’ Popular With $16M+ 2nd-Best November Tuesday; ‘Gladiator II’ $6M+ – Box Office
WEDNESDAY UPDATE AFTER EXCLUSIVE: Disney’s Moana 2 came in at $13.8M in previews Tuesday night, which is the best preview figure ever for a Walt Disney Animation title, the best ever for the studio on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving (ahead of Ralph Breaks the Internet‘s $3.8M) and the second-highest preview figure for an animated movie behind Incredibles 2 ($18.5M).
Moana 2‘ also beat the preview figures of Inside Out 2 ($13M, $154M 3-day), Toy Story 4 ($12M previews, $121M 3-day) and Frozen 2 ($8.5M previews, 3-day $130M). Incredibles 2 posted $183M 3-day opening. What AMC boss Adam Aron heard just might be right: Moana 2 is poised to outgross Inside Out 2.
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Universal’s Wicked landed at $16.6M, the second-best November Tuesday ever behind Frozen 2, as we told you last night, while Paramount’s Gladiator II notched $6.6M. Wicked is up 5% over its record November Monday of $15.8M with a running total of $144.9M. Gladiator II is +27% over Monday with a running cume of $67.2M.
Moana 2 is at 89% on the Rotten Tomatoes audience meter, with reviews currently at 68% fresh.
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RelishMix says the social media reach of Moana 2 stands at 633.4M across TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, X and Instagram. That’s 6% above family animated genre norms. “The social campaign is running without unique pages for the franchise and feeding from Disney, Disney Animation and The Rock’s social channels,” reports RelishMix.
Moana 2‘s cast is fully activated on social and propelled predominately by Dwayne Johnson’s marketing machine with 556M fans as well as Nicole Scherzinger at 25.8M across all platforms. She voices Moana’s mom, Sina, and reportedly had to fight Disney to keep the character alive.
“Convo is running wildly positive with promising reactions for the sequel to the modern childhood classic,” RelishMix says about the chatter for Moana 2. “Fans reminisce on their experiences with the first film to gain more excitement for the next: ‘I remember when I would watch this with my siblings every day. Loved it.’ Exhilaration for the sequel continues with the nostalgic and tear-jerking trailer alone, ‘The minute I saw Moana’s grandmother, I started crying.'”
EXCLUSIVE: We’re not even past Thanksgiving, and the box office already is busting at the seams. Tonight, I hear that Disney’s PG-rated Moana 2, which started previews at 2PM, is heading to around $12M+ today. That’s a massive Tuesday pre-Thanksgiving preview record for the House of Mouse, beating previous champ, 2018’s Ralph Breaks the Internet by an exorbitant amount of cash (that sequel did $3.8M). Tonight’s dollars get rolled into Wednesday’s dough. The sequel is expected to rake in a Thanksgiving 5-day opening record of $125M-$135M. Disney didn’t return request for comment on tonight’s estimates. In fact, no studios did.
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Reviews for the Dwayne Johnson and Auli’i Cravalho reteam are 69% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, which is below the 77% certified fresh of Frozen II. Deadline critic Dessi Gomez exclaimed, “Moana 2 makes a satisfying splash as a sequel.”
Remember, it’s discount Tuesday, coupled with the fact that 48% K-12 schools and 20% colleges are off today per Comscore. Hence, the big business.
Meanwhile, Universal’s Wicked, despite its 2 hour 40 minute runtime to Moana 2‘s 100 minute weigh-in, continues to sweep up, heading for a $16M-$17M Tuesday, up 8% over its record November $15.8M Monday. As far as Tuesdays in November go, the Jon M. Chu directed title looks to be the second best currently behind Disney’s Frozen 2 which did $20.7M on Nov. 26, 2019.
On the high-end, the running total of the Ariana Grande-Cynthia Erivo starring title will stand at $145.2M. Certainly, before the end of the weekend, these witches are going to bury The Greatest Showman‘s domestic total of $174.3M. Heck, by tomorrow, they’ll be the highest grossing Universal feature adaptation of a Broadway musical at the domestic B.O. overtaking Les Miserables‘ $149.2M. Already, Wicked has surpassed the stateside final totals of Into the Woods ($128M) and both Mamma Mias! ($144.3M and $120.6M domestc). Broadway musicals aren’t dead.
Paramount’s Gladiator II is +25% currently from Monday’s $5.5M for a near $7M take. That will put the Ridley Scott epic’s domestic tally at $67.6M. Remember, it’s not just pulling in older men, but older women as well. Meaning, it’s the total date night film for the next few weeks.
For those keeping score, the biggest Thanksgiving five-day Wednesday-Sunday frame belongs to 2018, when Ralph Breaks the Internet led, that period amassing $315.6M per Comscore.
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