221 million dollars: Vaiana 2 breaks all records at the US box office

Even Disney can't believe it! The sequel has “far exceeded” all the studio's expectations and releases this evening, after not even a week of operation at… 386.3 million dollars in worldwide revenue!

He or she had a hollow nose! Someone suggested last year that perhaps the series based on Moana planned for Disney Plus would benefit from being transformed into a film Moana 2 for the cinema. He or she must really be puffing out their chest tonight.

After five short days in American theaters, Moana peaked at $221 million in revenue at the US box office. A completely crazy score for the sequel, which took full advantage of this first end-of-year holiday weekend across the Atlantic, to explode the Thanksgiving record, which was held by Frozen 2 ($125 million in 2019) and Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($109 million in 2013). Even stronger, Moana 2 also offers the biggest five-day start in history, surpassing the Universal juggernaut Super Mario Bros. the movie ($205.6 million in 2023). And icing on the cake, Moana 2 becomes the biggest launch in Walt Disney Animation history – ahead Frozen 2 (130.2 million) – all statistics combined.

The Pacific Adventurer is also making waves in the rest of the world where the film is a hit (in France in particular) to allow Moana 2 to post a worldwide total of $386.3 million! Yes, in just five days. It's huge and suggests that the film could well fetch Vice-Versa 2current number 1 at the 2024 box office with $1.6 billion during the summer.

“Moana 2 far exceeded our high expectations and demonstrates the phenomenon that Moiana has become. “This is a moment to celebrate, and we are grateful to all the moviegoers and fans who helped make this film's record-breaking launch.” rejoices the co-president of Disney Entertainment, in a press release.

Generally speaking, the US box office rained greenbacks all this Thanksgiving week, since the “Glicked” phenomenon – around Wicked And Gladiator II – continued his march forward. The three blockbusters combined, helped by the other films on display, thus beat the score for the biggest Thanksgiving weekend in history, with approximately $422 million in total revenue recorded by the US box office since Wednesday. Enough to shatter the previous record established in 2018 with $315 million in revenue for all films (led by Ralph 2.0, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald And Creed II at the time). Last year, wish, Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Serpent and the Songbird And Napoleon had, in comparison, managed to make only 125 million dollars…

In detail, Wicked ranks second at the American box office with $117.5 million over the long weekend to pass $260 million across the Atlantic and $350 million worldwide (the film will be released in France Wednesday). Wicked is already the most profitable Broadway adaptation in US box office history, ahead of Grease (188 million in 1978). Wicked now aims Mama Mia ($611 million overall in 2008) to become the biggest musical of all time. A jackpot hoped for by Universal which invested a lot of money (300 million in production) to make two films. Wicked 2 will be released in 2025.

Finally, still standing, Gladiator II is firmly in third place with $45 million raised this week in the US for a total of $112 million in the US and $320 million worldwide so far. The film cost 250 million (excluding promotion) and will be profitable for Paramount. He should also be able to fetch Gladiator which, by the year 2000, had ended up at $465 million in worldwide revenue.