Auli´i Cravalho voices Moana in Disney Animation’s Moana 2.
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There was a feast at the box office this Thanksgiving, not famine.
The combination of Disney’s “Moana 2,” Universal’s “Wicked” and Paramount’s “Gladiator II” has propelled the five-day Thanksgiving holiday to the biggest box office gross in movie history – as of today It grossed an estimated $420 million on Sunday.
Paul Dergarabedian said: “The perfect storm has arrived at the Thanksgiving box office after a sluggish summer, driven by a trio of releases in the musical, epic and family movie genres. The most favorable moment to revitalize the theater market will then be.
“Moana 2” led the box office with $221 million in five days, far exceeding analysts’ initial expectations of $100 million. It became the highest-grossing film of the Thanksgiving weekend, beating out 2019’s “Frozen 2,” which grossed $125 million during the same period.
“Wicked” continues to soar, with an estimated $117.5 million in holiday season grosses, bringing its domestic total to $262.42 million. The film has now become the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation in domestic box office history. Ten days after its release, the film grossed $359.2 million at the global box office.
“Gladiator II” added $44 million to the Thanksgiving total. The film grossed an estimated $111.2 million domestically in its first 10 days in theaters and has grossed $320 million worldwide since its international release earlier this month.
“We have no shortage of words to describe the historic weekend we saw in theaters,” said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory. “When a movie exceeds expectations like Moana 2 does, that’s a statement in itself. A big story. When hit movies like Wicked and Gladiator II do well at the same time, it’s a powerful reminder of the importance of continuing to watch movies to preserve our culture.
Since 2019, Thanksgiving holiday sales have never exceeded $200 million, according to Comscore. And, before this weekend, there had only been one Thanksgiving period with more than $300 million in revenue.
The previous record was held by 2018’s Wreck-It Ralph, Creed II, and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Together, these films brought in $315 million in box office revenue.
Outstanding box office performance during this year’s Thanksgiving period could also help close the gap between 2024 and 2023. The 2024 box office has been hit hard following last year’s double strikes in Hollywood, which halted production and pushed the release of many blockbusters to 2025 and beyond.
Heading into this holiday period, the 2024 box office is down 11% from the previous year. It’s now just 6.4% behind, according to Comscore.
Revealed: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal distributes “Wicked” and owns “Fandango.”
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