The movie “Moana 2” by The Walt Disney Co. retained its top position at the box office for the second consecutive weekend, breaking yet another record in ticket sales.
Over the weekend, the film raked in $52 million, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. This pushed its total domestic earnings to $300 million, surpassing its predecessor, and its global revenue to an impressive $600 million.
This figure established a new record for the highest weekend gross for a movie post-Thanksgiving, overtaking “Frozen II,” which made $35.2 million during the same period in 2019. These calculations have not been adjusted for inflation. Initially planned as a Disney+ series, “Moana 2” has now secured a place in the top five highest-grossing films of the year. The success of the film means that Disney now boasts three entries in this year’s top five, including “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.” Furthermore, the studio has another highly anticipated release set for the end of the year: Barry Jenkins’ “Mufasa,” scheduled for December 20.
The weekend also showcased several new releases, including A24’s horror comedy “Y2K” and the Jude Law crime thriller “The Order.” But nothing was ever going to present significant competition to the enticing Thanksgiving leftovers, “Moana 2,” “Wicked” and “Gladiator II.”
Second place at the box office was occupied by “Wicked,” which added $34.9 million, bringing its domestic total to $320.5 million in three weeks. Globally, the musical adaptation released by Universal is at $455.6 million. “Gladiator II” followed in third place with $12.5 million, while “Red One” came in fourth with $7 million.
The newcomers struggled to make an impact. Even the 10th anniversary rerelease of Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar,” which played in only 165 theaters, did better than “Y2K” ($2.1 million) and “The Order” ($888,000) combined. Paramount reported that the science fiction epic starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway brought in an estimated $4.4 million. IMAX also noted that all the 70mm IMAX presentations of “Interstellar” were sold out through the weekend.
“I was thrilled so many moviegoers took advantage of the original IMAX experience of ‘Interstellar’ this weekend,” Nolan said in a statement.
Next weekend theaters are in for another influx of bigger movies, with both Sony’s comic book film “Kraven the Hunter” and the animated “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” opening in wide release. Awards contenders “Nickel Boys” and “September 5” will also open in a limited number of theaters.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
