Movie Monday: ‘Moana 2’ Sails to Record Win

Well, we know what Disney executives were thankful for this extended Thanksgiving weekend: Moana 2.

The animated sequel feasted on Thanksgiving receipts to the tune of—and you might want to sit down for this—$221 million over the five-day extended holiday weekend. That absolutely obliterated the old box-office five-day Thanksgiving record of $125 million, set by Frozen II in the pre-pandemic days of 2019. It’s also the biggest five-day debut in cinematic history, coasting past the $205.6 million earned by The Super Mario Bros. Movie just last year.

Moana 2 is doing well overseas, too. The Disney flick has already pocketed $165.3 million internationally, bringing its global gross to $386.3 million.

You’d think that Moana 2 would’ve gobbled up so much box-office business that there’d be few leftovers for anyone else. Au contraire, mon ami. Moana 2 was just part of this Thanksgiving cinematic spread—one that served up a record $422 million across the box-office slate—and there was plenty of gravy to go around.

Wicked: Part 1 finished a distant second to Moana 2, but it did so while still earning an estimated $117.5 million over the five-day holiday weekend. That means Wicked ranks as the third highest-earning film over the Thanksgiving weekend in history—behind Moana 2 and the aforementioned Frozen II. Quite the consolation prize, that.

Wicked has already earned $262.4 million in North America during its short run. That makes it the year’s seventh-biggest movie, and it still has plenty of pep in its step. Add in its overseas receipts, and Wicked: Part 1’s worldwide earnings stand at $359.3 million.

Gladiator II continued to flex its own movie muscles, powering its way to a $30.7 million, third-place finish over the five-day holiday. Its own overall domestic tally sits at $111.2 million, and it’s made even more overseas. Gladiator II’s global gross is now $320 million, which would surely receive a thumbs-up from the Roman emperors themselves.

Red One gathered up some theatrical green, earning $18.7 million to finish fourth. The Dwayne Johnson/Chris Evans Christmas flick has now earned $76.1 million in its domestic run and $148.7 million worldwide.

In fifth place we find The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, a scrappy faith-based film if ever there was one. Its overall grosses don’t match the Moana 2s of the industry, but to land in the top five for four straight weekends is no small feat. It dished up another $4.9 million over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, pushing its domestic gross to $32 million.