Christmas came early this year at the box office.
“Moana 2” It brought in a wave of moviegoers over the Thanksgiving weekend, setting a record $221 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. That, together “evil” and “Gladiator II”, For an unprecedented weekend in cinemas and a meeting between blockbusters that is often found at the end of December.
Expectations were high for Walt Disney Co.’s “Moana 2,” but the film — originally planned as a series for Disney+ before being redirected to the big screen — blew predictions out of the water. The five-day opening set a new record for Thanksgiving cinema. (The previous best was $125 million for “Frozen 2” in its second week in 2019.) “Moana 2” added $165.3 million internationally; With $386 million worldwide, it is the year’s second-highest worldwide grosser.
at the same time A sense of “evil”. he showed no signs of slowing down. The universal The Pictures musical earned $117.5 million over the five-day weekend, bringing its two-week total to $359.2 million. Adjusted for inflation, “Wicked” is currently the biggest Broadway adaptation of “Grease.” (That 1978 film grossed $190 million, but adjusted for inflation, that would leave it with more than $900 million.)
“Gladiator II,” on the other hand, held up well, dropping 44% from its opening weekend. The sequel to Ridley Scott’s Best Picture Oscar-winning original film grossed $44 million in its second weekend. While its lofty $250 million price tag will make profitability difficult, “Gladiator II” has grossed $320 million worldwide.
Those three films combined for a record $420 million in overall box office sales over the Thanksgiving weekend, according to Comscore, $100 million more than ever before. It was a triumphant weekend that showed the still-powerful power of Hollywood’s blockbuster machine for an industry that has been plagued by pandemics, work stoppages and streaming disruptions in recent years. Before “Wicked,” “Moana 2” and “Gladiator II” hit theaters, ticket sales were about 25% behind pre-pandemic levels.
Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of the National Association of Theater Owners, said the weekend showed what’s possible “when all the pieces of the puzzle come together” with marketing muscle on big-budget blockbusters.
“We’re very optimistic that this weekend is the start of what we believe is a full charge for the future,” he said. “The remaining quarter of this year looks very promising and then into 2025 and 2026. We expect next year to be the first normal year for this industry in a long time.”
Like the last time scheduled films clashed in the release schedule – 2023 is a tough year “Barbenheimer” – The film industry could once again see evidence of a rising cinematic tide lifting all the blockbusters. In recent years, studios have typically tried to space their biggest releases. Earlier this fall, it was “Venom: The Last Dance”, for example No. 1 movie for three weeks in a rowalthough not particularly successful.
“There’s been a belief in Hollywood for a long, long time that you don’t pit big blockbusters against each other,” O’Leary said. “But the truth is that the competition is good. It’s good for movies. Good for studios. It’s good for theater owners. But it’s especially good for movie lovers.”
“Moana 2” was the nexus of a change in strategy for Disney. When it began development, it was adapted as a series for streaming. But when Bob Iger returned as CEO, he rethought the balance between theater and streaming. The original “Moana,” after all, was the most-streamed movie on Disney+ in 2023, adding to its $680 million box office haul in 2016. It was only in February of this year that Iger announced the film “Moana 2”, together with Auli. ‘i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson return as the voices of Moana and Maui.
“It shows you that the big screen and the small screen are not rivals. They can be complementary and additive,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “Making the decision to go global with Moana 2 was one of the biggest decisions ever.”
And it led to a revival for the Walt Disney Co., whose last two animated November releases — “Strange World” and “Wish” — faltered in theaters. “Moana 2” could become the studio’s third $1 billion film in 2024, joining “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.” While reviews for “Moana 2” are 65% “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences have given it an “A-” CinemaScore.
“Moana 2” is part of a big rebound for family cinema. According to David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes the newsletter Franchise Entertainment, family cinema will bring in $6.8 billion in ticket sales in 2024, roughly the same as in 2022 and 2023 combined.
After such big releases, “Moana 2” and “Wicked” will continue to push theaters through December. The only question will be whether this year’s Christmas movies — historically a bigger holiday for theaters — can follow the Thanksgiving schedule. Movies targeting that holiday corridor include Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King,” Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” and Searchlight’s “A Complete Unknown,” with Timothée Chalamet as a young Bob Dylan.
The final data will be given on Monday. According to Comscore, estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at theaters in the U.S. and Canada:
1. “Moana 2,” $135 million.
2. “Wicked,” $80 million.
3. “Gladiator II” $30.7 million.
4. “Red One,” $12.9 million.
5. “Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” $3.3 million.
6. “Bonhoeffer: Pastor. the spy Assassin,” $2.4 million.
7. “Venom: The Last Dance,” $2.2 million.
8. “Heretic,” $956,797.
9. “Wild Robot,” $670,000.
10. “A Real Pain,” $665,000.
