Moana 2, proved once again after Universal’s Wicked, that musicals aren’t dead on the big screen. It doesn’t matter if they are animated or not. Here’s a list of the box office records the Disney sequel broke in its opening weekend, after a domestic 3-day of $135.5M, 5-day of $221M, international of $165.3M and worldwide haul of $386.3M. The original Moana ended its domestic run at $248.7M and $643.3M. In a matter of days, the sequel here from directors David G. Derrick Jr, Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller will overtake those figures.
Domestic:
Highest 5-day opening of all-time (surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie at $204.6M).
Highest Thanksgiving weekend of all time by far (surpassing Frozen 2’s holdover take of $125M 5-day and $94M 3-day).
Highest Thanksgiving debut by far (more than doubling Frozen’s $94M 5-day and $67M 3-day).
Best Thanksgiving Day take of $28M, nearly double the prior record of $15M (Frozen 2) .
Highest ever Black Friday at the box office with $54.5M (exceeding Frozen 2’s $34.2M).
Watch on Deadline
Record Opening for a Walt Disney Animation movie, beating Frozen 2‘s $130.3M take.
At $13.8M, the Best Preview Figure Ever for a Walt Disney Animation title., the best ever Tuesday for Disney before Thanksgiving (ahead of Ralph Breaks the Internet‘s $3.8M) and the 2nd-highest preview figure for an animated movie behind Incredibles 2 ($18.5M).
First time a Hollywood Star Had Two No. 1 Openings in a Calendar Month: that being Dwyane Johnson with Amazon MGM Studios’ Red One and Moana 2.
Second-Best 3-day Opening for Dwayne Johnson, behind Furious 7‘s $147.1M opening.
4th Highest Opening for a Musical at the Domestic Box Office – after The Lion King ($191.7M), Beauty and the Beast ($174.7M), and Barbie ($162M).
Disney now holds the top 7 Thanksgiving debuts of all time and 9 of the top 10.
Worldwide
2nd biggest global debut of 2024 YTD (at time of this report) after Deadpool & Wolverine‘s $444.7M.
At $300.8M ($135.5M domestic plus $165.3M international) the 3rd biggest opening for an Animated Movie after Super Mario Bros Movie ($377.2M) and Frozen 2‘s $358.2M.
3rd Biggest Opening for a Musical after Beauty and the Beast ($357M) and Barbie ($356.3M).
International
2nd highest international opening of 2024 to date (actual reported), behind only Deadpool & Wolverine ($233.1M).
2nd highest international animated opening of 2024 to date (assuming the same int’l release pattern and at current rates), behind only Inside Out 2.
Opened #1 in all markets except for China (where #1 MPA).
Highest animated opening weekend of all-time in France as well as Poland, UAE., Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Lebanon, Nigeria, Serbia and Turkey.
2nd highest animated weekend of all-time in Italy and Brazil as well as Netherlands (excl. previews), Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia and Bosnia.
Highest Walt Disney Animation opening weekend of all-time across the Latin American region and in France, Italy, Australia, Brazil and Mexico as well as Netherlands, Poland, Bahrain, Egypt, Hungary, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Turkey, UAE, Argentina, Central America, Peru, Ecuador, Chile and Uruguay.