New Disney (DIS) film “Moana 2” has helped to power the North American box office to its biggest U.S. Thanksgiving weekend ever.
“Moana 2,” along with films “Wicked” and “Gladiator II,” pushed the five-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend to an estimated $420 million U.S., its biggest gross in cinema history.
“Moana 2” led the weekend with $221 million U.S. for the five-day weekend, a huge overperformance compared to the $100 million U.S. that box office analysts had estimated.
It marked the highest Thanksgiving weekend performance of a film ever, beating the pre-pandemic 2019 debut of movie “Frozen II,” which earned $125 million U.S. during the period.
“Wicked” held up well in its second weekend, taking in an additional $117.5 million U.S. in ticket sales and bringing its total domestic haul to $262.42 million U.S.
“Wicked” is now the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation of all time at the domestic box office. Globally, the film has earned $359.2 million U.S. after 10 days in theatres.
“Gladiator II” added another $44 million U.S. to the Thanksgiving total. It has earned an estimated $111.2 million U.S. in domestic ticket sales and $320 million U.S. globally through two weeks of release.
The Thanksgiving holiday box office hasn’t topped $200 million U.S. since before the pandemic in 2019, according to industry data.
This year’s Thanksgiving overperformance at the box office has helped narrow the gap between 2024 and 2023′s grosses.
Heading into this past weekend, the North American box office was down 11% compared to 2023. Now, it’s just 6.4% behind last year’s haul, according to industry figures.
For Disney, “Moana 2” is its biggest theatrical hit in years. The stock of Walt Disney has risen 30% this year to trade at $117.47 U.S. per share.