Walt Disney Animation’s blockbuster Moana 2 continues to smash records in its second weekend, hitting an early global haul of $600 million, already ahead of the first film’s global take of $582 million at current exchange rates.
The sequel remained safely ensconced at No. 1 with an estimated three-day gross in of $52 million from 4,300 theaters in North America — the top gross of all time for the weekend following Thanksgiving by a mile. The previous record-holder was fellow Disney pic Frozen II at $35.1 million, not adjusted for inflation. And on Friday — in yet another milestone — Moana 2 earned a hefty $11.7 million, passing up the entire lifetime domestic gross of Moana ($248.7 million) after only 10 days in release. The pic fell 63 percent from the three-day Thanksgiving weekend.
Overseas, the animated blockbuster took in another $103.4 million for a foreign tally of $300 million and $600 million worldwide, already making it the fifth-biggest film of the year and giving Disney three of the top five titles (Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine are the other two).
Universal’s Wicked also remained a powerhouse with another $34.9 million from 3,885 locations in its third weekend as it likewise crossed the $300 mark in North America to finish Sunday with a domestic total of $320.5 million. The film also made history over Thanksgiving in becoming the top-grossing Broadway musical adaptation of all time (Grease was the previous record-holder at $188 million, not adjusted for inflation).
Overseas, Wicked took in $26.9 million for a foreign total of $135 million and $455.5 million globally.
The strength of the two titles, along with Paramount’s Gladiator II, resulted in overall domestic revenue being more than 90 percent above the same frame in 2023. A few weeks ago, Hollywood was worried that revenue for the full year might not even hit $8 billion, compared to $9 billion in 2023. Now, it’s looking like revenue could come in at $8.5 billion to $8.6 billion, a deficit of 4 percent. (Before Thanksgiving, the gap was more than 11 percent.)
Gladiator II stayed at third place with an estimated $12.4 million from 3,440 locations for a domestic total of $133.7 million through Sunday.
Fun fact of the weekend: Paramount’s rerelease of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar in honor of the film’s 10th anniversary generated $4.5 million in domestic ticket sales from 166 Imax theaters, more than good enough for a sixth-place finish and generating the best location average of the weekend ($70,000). Imax is reporting that all showings sold out.
Few new films opened nationwide. A24, which isn’t known for missing the mark, struck out with Kyle Mooney’s directorial debut Y2K, a horror-comedy about a group of teens who endeavor to save their brethren when the worst happens and technology goes wonky at the turn of the new century. The specialty pic, opening in ninth place with $2.1 million from 2,108 locations, was panned by critics and slapped with a C- CinemaScore.
Instead, A24 focused on Queer, Luca Guadagnino‘s latest awards contender starring Daniel Craig. On the eve of Monday’s Golden Globe nominations, Queer expanded into a total of 47 locations, grossing $405,900 for a so-so theater location average of $8,636 and domestic tally of $866,823.
Dec. 8, 8:00 a.m. Updated with revised estimates.
This story was originally published Dec. 7 at 8:59 a.m.