Moana 2 Breaks Another Big Frozen 2 Box Office Record

It’s been a resurgent two weeks for the box office thanks to films like Wicked and Gladiator 2, though Moana 2 is shaking out to have the largest impact. The anticipated sequel was always going to have a strong opening weekend, but few likely predicted that it would have this big of a debut in its full opening day, surpassing an impressive record set by a previous Disney powerhouse in Frozen 2. Deadline is reporting that Moana 2 is setting up for $215 to $220 million over the five day projection, and it delivered $54.5 million on Black Friday alone, and both totals surpass previous records set by Frozen 2.

Moana 2’s big Friday box office haul led to Disney raising their 5-day estimate up to the now $215 to $220 million bar, and the 3-day haul is set around $140 million, which will be the second best debut for Dwayne Johnson after Furious 7 ($147.1 million).

Moana 2’s 54.5 million Black Friday total moves into first place as the best Black Friday box office performer ever, moving past Frozen 2’s $34.1 million. As for the 5-day performance, Moana 2 moves past Frozen 2 as well, surpassing that sequel’s $125 million. If that new estimate range of $215 million holds, Moana 2 will also hold the best Thanksgiving 5-day record for any title, opening or holdover, and would also become the biggest 5-day opening of all time period, surpassing the Super Mario Bros Movie’s $204.6 million.

This is obviously great news for the box office in general, but what’s even better about it is that Moana 2’s performance isn’t at the expense of Wicked or Gladiator, which are still bringing in strong numbers. Wicked is expected to bring in $118 million over the 5-day span, putting it in third place for the best five-day run for movie over Thanksgiving, setting it only behind the aforementioned Frozen 2 and Moana 2.

[RELATED: How Moana 2’s Post-Credits Scene Sets Up the Moana 3 Endgame]

Wicked also brought in $32 million on Friday, and will take up the third spot in the best Black Friday box office for any title category, only being behind Frozen 2 and Moana 2 once again.

This is all in addition to Gladiator 2, which is looking to bring in around $5 million over the 5-day run, and is expected to hit $112.2 million at the end of the weekend. So far the film has brought in $278 million worldwide, and that’s given Denzel Washington his highest grossing movie ever, passing up the $270 million from American Gangster.

Coming in at number 4 for the weekend so far is Red One, which has a five day estimate of $19 million, and has made $76.3 million so far in its third week. The top 5 is rounded out by Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which has a 5-day estimate of 5 million and has made $32.2 million as it finishes its fourth week.

Did you go out and see Moana 2 or Wicked? You can talk all things movies with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb and on Bluesky @knightofoa!