'Moana 2' set a Thanksgiving box office record. Here's how its success compares to other blockbusters.
Disney
- Disney's "Moana 2" set a new five-day Thanksgiving box office record with $221 million in sales.
- The previous record was held by "Frozen II," which brought $125 million in 2019.
- "Moana 2," "Wicked," and "Gladiator II" contributed to the $420 million in box office sales over Thanksgiving.
"Moana 2" made a big splash at the box office over Thanksgiving weekend.
The highly anticipated sequel to the 2016 Disney film has brought in $221 million in domestic ticket sales since opening on Wednesday — the first day of the five-day Thanksgiving weekend — based on studio estimates.
The film broke the five-day Thanksgiving box office record, surpassing the $125 million record set by "Frozen II" in 2019. Before that, the title was held by "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," which brought in $109.9 million in 2013.
The Thanksgiving box office weekend has also seen the continued success of "Wicked" and "Gladiator II" — both of which were released on November 22.
Like "Barbenheimer," fans have dubbed the movies "Glicked" thanks to their coincidental release date.
During the five-day Thanksgiving period, "Wicked" — which stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo — brought in $117.5 million domestically, while "Gladiator II" — which stars Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, and Pedro Pascal — earned $44 million, based on estimates from IMDB's Box Office Mojo.
The three films contributed to the $420 million raked in over the five-day period — the best-ever Thanksgiving box office sales, surpassing the $315.6 million record set over the same period in 2018, according to Comscore data, per NBC.
Based on studio estimates, "Moana 2" has made $386 million globally so far.
In 2016, "Moana" also topped box offices on Thanksgiving weekend with $81 million in ticket sales.
It was released on Disney+ in 2019 and was the most-watched movie on a streaming platform in the US in 2023, with over 11.3 billion minutes streamed, per data from Nielsen.
A representative from Comscore did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.