Walt Disney Animation Studios’ animated musical “Moana 2,” which opened on Wednesday, reunites Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) and Moana (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho) on a new voyage. (Disney/TNS)
By Meg James
Los Angeles Times (TNS)
LOS ANGELES, CA — “Moana 2” is shaping up be one of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ biggest wave riders ever.
The animated musical about the seafaring Polynesian princess delivered a domestic Thanksgiving Day haul of $28 million — the largest Turkey Day bounty ever, according to studio estimates released Friday.
And the wave keeps building. “Moana 2,” which features the voices of Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson, ultimately could collect as much as $200 million in ticket sales over the five-day holiday weekend. That would shatter the previous Thanksgiving weekend mark set by Disney’s “Frozen 2,” which thawed to $125 million during its second weekend at the box office in 2019.
In just two days, “Moana 2” has generated $85.5 million in domestic ticket sales, studio estimates show. Including international markets, the sequel to the 2016 hit has raked in more than $109 million.
The original “Moana,” which also was released over Thanksgiving weekend, feasted on $81 million. It ultimately brought in $643 million in global ticket sales before swelling into one of the biggest streaming movie hits of all time.
Disney’s latest blockbuster has extended a welcomed resurgence at the box office for Hollywood studios at the end of a bumpy year. Movie houses and Hollywood executives have experienced a string of hot and cold theatrical releases, compounding the industry’s struggles due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and last year’s twin labor strikes by actors and writers.
Since last weekend, domestic distributors have generated an estimated $400 million in ticket sales with the triple threat of “Moana 2,” Universal Pictures’ “Wicked” and Paramount Pictures’ “Gladiator II,” according to Comscore.
Those three films have combined to generate $340 million in ticket sales since Nov. 22, Comscore said.
Once again, Disney displayed its moviemaking and marketing magic. “Moana 2” was initially conceived to be a Disney+ streaming series, but after Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger returned from retirement two years ago, Burbank executives reassessed the studio’s development and release strategy.
Disney had impressive stats to draw on: “Moana” has been the most streamed movie on Disney+ and was the No. 1 streamed movie among all services last year, according to Nielsen.
For months, Disney executives stayed mum on their plans — until the big reveal in early February when the studio announced “Moana 2” would arrive in theaters for Thanksgiving.
The movie, which had a budget of nearly $200 million, comes as moviegoers have been craving engaging fare for the entire family and movies running less than two hours. (“Moana 2” spans 1 hour, 40 minutes.)
Trailers for “Moana 2” played frequently during Disney’s earlier hit movie, “Inside Out 2,” which served to whet audiences appetites for Moana’s latest musical journey.
“All of the stars aligned to make this the box office phenomenon that it is,” Disney’s head of theatrical distribution, Tony Chambers, said.
The film is directed by David Derrick Jr., co-directed by Jason Hand and features music by Abigail Barlow, Emily Bear, Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina. The sequel was produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios in its Vancouver and Burbank locations.
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