Moana 2’ Breaks Records, Surpasses $600 Million Globally
Moana 2’ Breaks Records, Surpasses $600 Million Globally.
Walt Disney Co.'s animated flick “Moana 2” is still ruling the box office in its second weekend, raking in another impressive $52 million, as per studio estimates on Sunday. This brings its domestic earnings to $300 million, surpassing the original film, and its worldwide total to an eye-popping $600 million.
This weekend haul set a new record for a movie following Thanksgiving, knocking “Frozen II” off the top spot, which made $35.2 million during the same period in 2019. Keep in mind, these figures aren’t adjusted for inflation. Initially planned as a Disney+ series, “Moana 2” has already made its way into the top five highest-grossing films of the year.
With this success, Disney now has three films in this year's top five, including “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.” Plus, they’ve got another major release coming up before the year wraps up: Barry Jenkins' “Mufasa," hitting theaters on December 20.
The weekend brought a bunch of new films to the big screen, like A24’s horror comedy “Y2K” and Jude Law’s crime thriller “The Order.” However, they had a tough time competing with the popular Thanksgiving hits, “Moana 2,” “Wicked,” and “Gladiator II.”
In the box office race, “Wicked” took second place, raking in $34.9 million and pushing its domestic total to $320.5 million after three weeks. Worldwide, the musical from Universal has made $455.6 million. “Gladiator II” landed in third with $12.5 million, while “Red One” secured fourth place with $7 million.
“These holdovers are going to create the momentum that’s going to put an $8.5 billion-plus box office year on the horizon,” stated Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore.
Before the pandemic, the movie industry was raking in about $11 billion a year. Since then, the closest it’s come to that figure was last year, which managed to hit $9 billion. This year started off pretty slow, and just a few months ago, there were doubts about even reaching $8 billion. However, in the two weeks following Thanksgiving, the gap from last year has shrunk by over 5%.
The new releases had a tough time making waves. Even the 10th anniversary rerelease of Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar,” which was only shown in 165 theaters, outperformed “Y2K” ($2.1 million) and “The Order” ($878,000) combined. Paramount shared that the sci-fi hit featuring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway pulled in around $4.4 million. Plus, IMAX reported that all the 70mm IMAX showings of “Interstellar” were sold out for the weekend.
“I was thrilled so many moviegoers took advantage of the original IMAX experience of ‘Interstellar’ this weekend," Nolan said in a statement.
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One of the standout newcomers was the Indian action film “Pushpa: The Rule – Part 2,” raking in $4.9 million. Meanwhile, Sony and Crunchyroll's anime flick, “Solo Leveling – ReAwakening,” brought in $2.4 million. Fathom also dropped the concert film “A Drummer Boy Christmas” featuring the pop duo for KING + COUNTRY, which pulled in $2.1 million at the box office.
“It’s a really diverse marketplace,” Dergarabedian said. “There's event cinema, international cinema, a re-release of a 10-year-old film. It's easily one of the most eclectic and interesting lineups I’ve ever seen.”
Next weekend, theaters are gearing up for a wave of major releases, featuring Sony's comic book flick “Kraven the Hunter” and the animated film “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” hitting screens nationwide. Plus, the awards hopefuls “Nickel Boys” and “September 5” will be available in select theaters.
Comscore has projected ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at theaters across the U.S. and Canada. The final domestic numbers will be out on Monday.
- “Moana 2,” $52 million.
- “Wicked,” $34.9 million.
- “Gladiator II,” $12.5 million
- “Red One,” $7 million.
- “Pushpa: The Rule – Part 2,” $4.9 million.
- “Interstellar” re-release, $4.4 million.
- “Solo Leveling – ReAwakening,” $2.4 million.
- “Y2K,” $2.1 million.
- “for KING + COUNTRY’S: A Drummer Boy Christmas,” $2.1 million.
- “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” $1.5 million.
Moana 2" continues to make waves at the box office, crossing the impressive $600 million mark globally in just its second weekend. This remarkable achievement highlights the film's widespread appeal and Disney's dominance in the industry, with three films in the year’s top five. The success of "Moana 2" has set new records, further solidifying its place as one of the year’s biggest hits.
With strong performances from other films like "Wicked" and "Gladiator II," the movie industry is poised for a strong finish to 2024, reaffirming the resilience and growth of the cinematic world post-pandemic.
