On Thanksgiving Day, the Disney film grossed $28M, nearly double “Frozen 2,” which had earned $15M.
Disney’s Moana 2’s record-breaking performance helped Thanksgiving’s box office.
The sequel to the 2016 animated film starring Auli’i Cravalho as the voice of the titular Polynesian wayfinder (don’t call her a princess!) who goes on a quest with demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) to break a curse had the highest Thanksgiving Day debut of all time, at $28 million, nearly doubling Frozen 2’s premiere, and the highest Thanksgiving weekend and five-day opening in U.S. history.
The sequel asked “How Far I’ll Go?” and called for “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?” 389 million overseas over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday and weekend, helping the U.S. box office reach $424 million, its greatest holiday take ever and a much-needed lift.
Walt Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman stated, “Moana 2 has far surpassed our high expectations this weekend and is a testament to the phenomenon that Moana has become. “Our talented and hardworking Disney Animation creative team, Auli’i and Dwayne, and great new music brought this new adventure to life. We’re celebrating and thanking moviegoers and fans for making this a record-breaking debut.”
At U.S. theaters, Wicked and Gladiator II also did well during the holidays. Moana 2 has produced a perfect storm at the box office by adding $225.2 million to Universal’s Wizard of Oz reimagining’s $262 million and Paramount Pictures’ Roman Empire action fest’s $111 million since their shared “Glicked” launch on Nov. 22.
“The biggest highlight of all of this is that we just experienced the largest domestic Thanksgiving box office period in history, which is incredible,” Phoenix Theatres vice president of project development Jordan Hohman told Yahoo Entertainment. The past full week of box office was the largest in the US since ‘Barbenheimer’ last summer.
Instead of cannibalizing each other, the three blockbusters converging at multiplexes appeared to pull a box office hat trick.
According to Hohman, “You have what we call counterprogramming here, where you have all these different niches being filled,” such as adults watching Gladiator [II] or Wicked or families watching Moana [2].
Film statistics and analytics service Boxoffice Company senior vice president Daniel Loria termed the numbers exceptional.
“According to our data, cinemas nationwide allocated 75% of all showtimes in the US to Moana 2, Wicked, and Gladiator II to meet consumer demand,” Loria stated.
Thanksgiving box office success is nothing new for Disney. Top seven Thanksgiving debuts and nine of the top 10 are from the studio. Notable films include Frozen, Toy Story 2, Coco, Tangled, Moana, and Moana 2.
Although the Polynesian-themed sequel was originally planned as a Disney+ TV series during pandemics, many theater owners expected it to succeed. Disney and cinemas won by reprioritizing theatrical runs above streaming.
Streaming Moana helped promote the sequel. Since arriving on Disney+ in 2019, the 2016 film, featuring Cravalho and Johnson in the same vocal roles and scored by Tony-winning Lin-Manuel Miranda (who didn’t return for the sequel), has been a hit. According to Nielsen, Moana is the most streamed movie ever with over 1 billion hours watched.
Just one of those movies that has grown an audience over time. According to Hohman, the first was warmly welcomed. This is a movie collection staple for many families.
Look Cinemas CEO Brian Schultz told Yahoo Entertainment that Moana 2 pleased multiple demographics.
“It built on the first story, had good music, and was really entertaining,” he remarked.
Theater owners “eventized” Moana, like they did Wicked and Gladiator II, due to its built-in audience and presale numbers.
“We had a cocktail for both Gladiator and Wicked, and then we had a special popcorn for Moana for kids; gummy bears topped Moana popcorn orders,” Schultz said. Eventize practically all food and beverage offerings.”
Other multiplexes like B&B Theaters served coconut and cherry Moana-themed mocktails for kids and non-drinkers. A Moana-themed blanket that functioned as a hula skirt was available at Phoenix Theatre concession kiosks.
Despite a difficult start to the year due to the dual actors’ and writers’ strikes of 2023, many theater owners are optimistic about 2025 if the content is good.
Schultz stated, “A lot of the media think that the movie theater industry is kind of decaying or dying, and it’s really not the case, but we do need great content and great stories.”
With Mufasa: The Lion King and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 coming out, Hohman is confident.
With 2025 approaching, he remarked, “I think that we’re all very confident in what’s to come.”
