Make way, make way — Moana 2 is here at last! And not only is Walt Disney Animation’s latest a bop-laden banger (‘Can I Get A Chee Hoo’ and ‘Beyond’ are already on heavy rotation at Empire HQ), but the continuing adventures of the House of Mouse’s Polynesian princess and her demigod bestie Maui is also doing big business at the box office. Having released stateside just in time for Thanksgiving last Wednesday before finding its way into cinemas worldwide on Friday, David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller’s animated sequel has sailed to an eye-watering $386 million opening at the global box office.
With $221 million of the above figure coming from domestic ticket sales alone, Moana 2 has already outstripped Frozen II to become Disney’s highest ever animation opening at the box office, taking almost as much in five days as 2016’s Moana took in its entire US theatrical run ($248.7 million). What’s more, the movie (which, it bears noting, at one stage was to be a TV series), has also enjoyed the highest five-day opening, Thanksgiving weekend, and Thanksgiving debut of all time domestically, while simultaneously proving no slouch on the world stage as it’s made waves to become the third biggest opening ever for an animation — and for a musical — globally.
And it’s not just Moana 2 enjoying the festive box office boom either, as the Glicked effect appears to be continuing apace, too. Jon M. Chu’s musical Wicked Witch of the West origin story Wicked is continuing to defy gravity in the multiplexes as a $117.5 million Thanksgiving boost brought the Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo starrer’s global cume to date up to $359 million, while Ridley Scott’s spectacular swords-and-sandals sequel Gladiator II continues to perform well in the cinematic arena with a running total taking of $320 million. With Christmas right around the corner too, don’t expect the box office to close on any of these three films any time soon, either.
After the record breaking successes of movies like Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2 this summer, and the healthy showings for non-sequels such as Longlegs and The Wild Robot, it’s clear that cinema goers are still passionate about, well, going to the cinemas — contrary to what some curmudgeons (and the turnout for a certain Clown Prince of Crime) may try and tell you. Now, let’s just hope the big studios take note of the box office boom of 2024 and decide to reinvest in the theatrical experience over a streaming first approach — and to put as much effort into marketing and distributing original art as sequels (great as sequels are, natch!). But for now, let’s celebrate a great month for bricks and mortar cinema, and we’ll see just how far Moana 2 goes in the weeks ahead. Surely Disney can’t release the highest grossing animated movie of all time twice in the same year? Surely…
