As a seasoned gamer who’s spent countless hours immersed in virtual worlds, I can tell you that this past Thanksgiving weekend felt more like a grand quest than just a holiday weekend. The box office was my final boss, and boy, did it deliver an epic showdown!
This past weekend was filled with plenty of reasons to be grateful at the box office. The hit movie “Wickediator” did exceptionally well on its pre-Thanksgiving release, and the good fortune didn’t stop there. On the 2024 movie calendar, Disney’s animated sequel, “Moana 2,” made its debut. However, this isn’t just an understatement—the Auliʻi Cravalho-led film surpassed expectations, earning a record-breaking $221 million during its first five days in theaters. To make things even more impressive, it joined forces with “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” to establish a new high for domestic box office earnings over any Thanksgiving weekend.
The audience for the mentioned Broadway adaptation and Ridley Scott’s Gladiator sequel didn’t seem to be divided much last weekend. The first part of the Broadway adaptation saw a relatively small decrease from its opening weekend, earning an additional $80 million over three days, according to The Numbers. Meanwhile, the Gladiator sequel also maintained its box office success, taking in $30.7 million during the same period. Let’s analyze the data in more detail using the chart below.
Moana 2 Leads A Historic Thanksgiving Weekend
In a stunning turn of events in 2023, the debut of Moana 2 surpassed the previous record for an extended premiere, leaving The Super Mario Bros. Movie behind with earnings of $205.6 million. The weekend’s success wasn’t solely due to the long holiday period. In fact, the sequel’s three-day earnings from Friday to Sunday, totaling an astounding $135.5 million, set a new record for the highest opening weekend for any Walt Disney animated film. This figure surpassed the previous record holder, Frozen II, which had earned $130.2 million. The earnings were significantly higher than anticipated, as experts forecasted that Moana 2 would earn between $125 million and $135 million over the entire five-day period, not just the final three days.
To put it simply, the massive profits from the simultaneous release of Moana 2, Wicked, and Gladiator II accounted for a significant portion of the unprecedented $422 million earnings during the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, setting a new record.
To help understand the significance, it’s important to note that the previous record was set before the pandemic in 2018. In November of that year, moviegoers collectively spent $315 million over five days to watch films like “Ralph Breaks the Internet”, “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”, and “Creed II”. This is significantly more than what was earned during last year’s Thanksgiving, when the highest-grossing movies, “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”, “Napoleon”, and “Wish” failed to exceed $200 million.
Moana 2 Getting Help From International Markets, As Audiences Aren’t Paying Mind To Middling Reviews
Initial responses to “Moana 2” generally expressed satisfaction with the film, although some felt that the songs didn’t quite match up to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s work in the original. Critic Corey Chichizola gave it a 3.5 out of 5 stars, and many reviews seemed to share the sentiment “I liked Moana 2, but…”. On Rotten Tomatoes, it received 65% approval from experts, yet this hasn’t stopped fans. They’ve given the movie an 87% on the Popcornmeter and an A- on CinemaScore.
Worldwide earnings are reflecting trends seen in the U.S., Canada, and beyond, with a remarkable global opening weekend totaling approximately $386.3 million after combining domestic earnings. This places it as the 11th highest-grossing film of the year so far, surpassing “Wicked” which made $359.3 million over the weekend (according to Box Office Mojo). It’s almost on track to enter the Top 10 highest-grossing films of the year, a milestone it will reach once it exceeds the earnings of “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” currently sitting at $397.4 million.
Speaking of how well sequels typically fare against their predecessors, take the case of Moana, which premiered in 2016 over Thanksgiving. In just a five-day span domestically, it amassed an impressive $82 million. Over the course of its theatrical run, this animated masterpiece garnered a staggering $687 million worldwide.
Wicked Still Flying High With Impressive Sophomore Box Office Pull, As Gladiator II Continues To Get International Help
It was initially speculated that the release of Moana 2 and Wicked might attract similar audiences due to their musical nature, female-centric themes, and family-friendly content, with a stark contrast to the R-rated Gladiator II. However, any such concerns were alleviated during Wicked‘s second weekend in theaters. The film experienced only a 29% decline from its previous cycle to the current one, grossing an additional $80 million over the three-day weekend and $117.5 million across the five-day holiday period.
Meanwhile, Gladiator II experienced a 44% decrease in earnings, accumulating $30.7 million over the weekend. However, when Wednesday and Thursday are factored in, this total rises to $44 million. Ridley Scott’s film has been a resounding success internationally, amassing a grand total of $320 million globally so far. With more time, it is expected to ascend the 2024 rankings, currently placing at No. 17, just shy of The Wild Robot ($321.6 million), It Ends with Us ($350.1 million), and Alien: Romulus ($350.9 million).
Completing the top five selections are two festive movies, namely “Red One” and “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” These films garnered considerably fewer views than the Top 3 but almost identical numbers compared to last week. It appears that as Thanksgiving concludes, viewers are now turning their attention towards Christmas-themed films.
Upcoming week boasts a variety of fresh wide releases such as “Nightbitch”, “The Order”, “The Return”, “Werewolves”, and “Y2K”. Will any of these make it to the Top 3? We’ll have to wait and see, so stay tuned with us at TopMob next week for all the box office insights you need.
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2024-12-02 01:09