‘Moana 2’ Achieves Demigod Status: All the Box Office Records Broken

Moana 2 is enjoying a historic adventure at the box office, where it has shattered record after record since its launch on Thanksgiving eve.

Heading into the holiday, Walt Disney Animation’s sequel was tracking to open to an already huge $125 million to $135 million for the long five-day weekend (Wednesday-Sunday). Instead, the music-infused family film served up a magical $221 million for the five days, including $135.3 for the three-day weekend, thanks to the pent-up demand to witness the continued adventures of the fearless Moana, voiced once again by Auli’i Cravalho, and the demigod Maui, likewise voiced again by Dwayne Johnson.

The Thanksgiving menu also included Universal’s record-smashing Wicked and Paramount’s Gladiator II. The trio of films resulted in the biggest Thanksgiving of all time in terms of domestic holiday revenue, which reached $420 million — more than $100 million ahead of the previous record set in 2018 with $316 million, according to Comscore.

Overseas, Moana 2 started off with $165.3 million for a global bow of $386.3 million, after opening No. 1 everywhere save for China.

Moana‘s journey to becoming a franchise was unusual, to say the least. The original 2016 movie was a solid, but not spectacular performer, and the sequel was originally developed as a Disney+ series. That is, until the 2016 pic transformed into an enduring cultural phenomenon among kids and became the most streamed movie across all platforms in 2023, according to Nielsen.

Directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller, the sequel follows the young heroine as she embarks on an unexpected adventure in long-lost waters after receiving a call from her ancestors. Maui, of course, shows up as well.

“Moana 2 has far surpassed our high expectations this weekend and is a testament to the phenomenon that Moana has become,” Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman said in a statement. “We’re fortunate to have an incredibly talented and hard-working creative team at Disney Animation who brought this new adventure to life, alongside our wonderful stars Auli’i and Dwayne and great new music. This is a moment to celebrate, and we’re thankful to all the moviegoers and fans who’ve helped make this a record-breaking debut.”

Below are the records broken so far, according to Disney and Comscore. Grosses are not adjusted for inflation.

Biggest 5-Day Debut of All Time, Period

Moana 2 (November 2024): $221 million
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (April 2023): $204 million
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (July 2010): $200 million
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (July 2011): $163 million
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (July 2009): $158 million

Biggest 5-Day Thanksgiving Earner All Time by a Mile (Including Holdover Films)

Moana 2 (2024): $221 million
Frozen II (2019): $125 million
Wicked (2024): $117.5 million
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2010): $110 million
Frozen (2013): $93.6 million

Biggest 5-Day Thanksgiving Nationwide Opening, By a Mile and Then Some

Moana 2 (2024): $221 million
Frozen (2013): $93.6 million
Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018): $84.8 million
Toy Story 2 (1999): $80.1 million
Coco (2017): $72.9 million

Biggest Walt Disney Animation Three-Day Debut of All Time

Moana 2: $135.5 million.
Frozen II: $130.3 million

Biggest Black Friday Gross of All Time

Moana 2: $54.5 million
Frozen II: $34.2 million

Biggest Thanksgiving Day Gross of All Time

Moana 2: $28 million
Frozen II: $15 million

Biggest Opening Day for a Walt Disney Animation Title, And More

Moana 2: $57.5 million
Frozen II: $42.2 million

Among all animated films, Moana 2 boast the third-biggest opening day behind 2024’s Inside Out 2 ($71.3 million) and 2018’s Incredibles 2 ($63.6 million). The latter two films are both from sister Disney studio Pixar.

Foreign Highlights

Moana 2 scored the second-biggest worldwide launch of the year so far behind fellow Disney pic Deadpool & Wolverine.

France led all markets with an astronomical $18.8 million, the biggest opening of all time for an animated film. In other major markets, it scored the scored the second-biggest animated opening in Italy and Brazil. And it boasts the biggest opening for a Walt Disney Animation title across the Latin American region and in nearly 30 individual markets worldwide, including Australia and Mexico.