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Disney’s ‘Moana 2’ rolling toward history-making Thanksgiving weekend

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Disney's 'Moana 2' rolling toward history-making Thanksgiving weekend

As someone who has spent countless hours in movie theaters, I can confidently say that “Moana 2” is not just a wave, but a tsunami of entertainment sweeping across the silver screen. The sheer scale of its success, with domestic earnings surpassing $85.5 million in just two days, is nothing short of astounding. Comparatively, it feels like I’ve been watching movies for a lifetime, and this is the biggest blockbuster I’ve ever witnessed!

“Moana 2” is shaping up be one of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ biggest wave riders ever.

On Thanksgiving Day, the animated musical featuring the Polynesian sea-faring princess brought in a record-breaking $28 million at home, as per studio figures disclosed on Friday.

The swell of “Moana 2” continues, with potential earnings from ticket sales reaching up to a massive $200 million over the five-day holiday period. This figure would easily surpass the previous Thanksgiving weekend record held by Disney’s “Frozen 2,” which grossed $125 million during its second weekend in 2019, effectively breaking the ice.

In only two days since its release, the estimated domestic box office earnings for “Moana 2” have reached $85.5 million. When we factor in international markets, the total earnings from this sequel to the 2016 blockbuster surpasses $109 million.

The initial release of “Moana,” coinciding with Thanksgiving weekend, enjoyed a bountiful take of approximately $81 million. Eventually, its worldwide box office earnings climbed to an impressive $643 million, eventually becoming one of the most successful streaming movies ever made.

Disney’s recent hit movie has brought a refreshing rebound in ticket sales for Hollywood studios during a challenging year. Cinemas and studio heads have faced a series of ups and downs with their film releases, making an already difficult situation even harder due to the disruptions caused by COVID-19 and last year’s strikes among actors and writers.

Over the past weekend, it’s been estimated that these three films – “Moana 2”, “Wicked” from Universal Pictures, and “Gladiator II” from Paramount Pictures – collectively grossed around $400 million at domestic box offices, as reported by Comscore.

Since November 22, the cumulative box office revenue for those three movies has totaled approximately $340 million, according to Comscore’s reports.

Once more, Disney showcased its movie-making and promotional prowess. Originally, “Moana 2” was planned as a streaming series on Disney+. However, after Bob Iger, Disney’s CEO, came out of retirement two years ago, the Burbank executives reevaluated their production and distribution strategy for this project.

Last year, “Moana” was the top-streamed film across all platforms, as reported by Nielsen, and it held the highest number of streams on Disney+.

Disney executives had kept quiet about their strategies for a number of months; it was only in early February that they finally disclosed their intentions, unveiling that “Moana 2” will be released in cinemas during the Thanksgiving season.

In the realm of cinematic offerings, a film with an approximately $200 million production budget has emerged, catering to audiences yearning for family-friendly, captivating content that keeps them engaged within a runtime of less than two hours. To clarify, “Moana 2” falls under this category, boasting a run time of 1 hour and 40 minutes.

During the screenings of “Inside Out 2,” previews for the upcoming film “Moana 2” were shown often, generating excitement among viewers for the new musical adventure that Moana would embark on.

Disney’s head of theatrical distribution, Tony Chambers, stated that everything fell into place for this movie to become the blockbuster hit that it has.

The movie is helmed by David Derrick Jr., with Jason Hand sharing the director’s chair, and boasting music composed by Abigail Barlow, Emily Bear, Opetaia Foa’i, and Mark Mancina. The subsequent installment was brought to life by Walt Disney Animation Studios, with productions taking place in both its Vancouver and Burbank studios.

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2024-11-29 23:31

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