‘Moana 2’ Breaks Thanksgiving Day Box Office Record, Raking in $28 Million

Moana 2 is the most successful Thanksgiving movie ever. On Friday, Walt Disney Animation Studios revealed that the animated musical, released Nov. 27, hauled in $28 million at the box office on Turkey Day, surpassing the previous record held by Frozen II at $14.9 million.

The film is also on track to shatter the record of Frozen II for the Thanksgiving weekend overall and could earn $200 million over the five-day weekend alone, surpassing the studio’s $175 million goal. Frozen II earned $125 million over the same period when it dropped in 2019.

Trailing closely behind the Moana sequel is Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s Wicked, which earned $16.9 million over its opening five days, bringing it to the fourth-highest five-day haul behind Moana 2, Frozen II, and Hunger Games: Catching Fire. According to the Los Angeles Times, Wicked, Moana 2, and Gladiator II have accounted for $400 million in ticket sales since they dropped last weekend.

Moana 2, directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller, was initially announced as an animated Disney+ series but was reimagined into a sequel film. The film sees the return of voice actors Auli‘i Cravalho and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. (Disney is also developing a live-action version of the film.)

“The sequel to the popular Disney animated movie sells South Pacific culture to the masses, sticks to the script, and serves fans exactly what they want,” read a Rolling Stone review by David Fear.

Songwriters Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow also caught up with Rolling Stone about taking three years to score and write the music for Moana 2. “We wanted to stay and live in the world that was already created musically. It’s so lush and epic and beautiful, but the characters have evolved now,” Barlow said. “Working with Opetaia [Foa’i] and Mark Mancina [composers on Moana] was such a privilege.”