UPDATE: 2025-06-29 08:00 EST BY BRENNAN KLEIN

Moana 2 Exceeds Expectations While Wicked, Gladiator II Both Fall $1 Million Short Of Saturday Projections, Records Still Intact

This article was originally written Saturday AM and has been updated Sunday AM with up-to-date box office projections (in bold), a full chart, and further analysis.

Together,Moana 2,WickedandGladiator IIare breaking a cavalcade of box office records over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. TheWizard of Ozprequel musicalWickedand the Ridley Scott legacy sequelGladiator IIboth opened the weekend before U.S. Thanksgiving, with the former handily claiming the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office. TheMoana 2releasedebuted the following Wednesday, just one day before the holiday. The new Disney animated movie is a direct sequel to their 2016 hit and was brought to theaters after originally being developed as a Disney+ series.

PerVariety, as of Sunday morning,Moana 2is projected to earn a five-day Thanksgiving gross of$221 millionat the domestic box office.This will break the record for the best five-day weekend of all time, beatingThe Super Mario Bros. Movie, which premiered with $204.6 million on the first Wednesday of April in 2023, though its midweek debut was not connected to a holiday weekend.WickedandGladiator IIhave also helped bring the overall five-day weekend to $422 million, the best Thanksgiving ever, beating 2018’s $315.6 million. Below, see a breakdown of every record this weekend:

Moana 2,Wicked,Gladiator II, more

$422 million

2018 ($315.6 million)

$109 million

2013 ($85 million)

$221 million

$135.5 million

behindFurious 7($147.1 million)

$221 million(Five-day)

Frozen II($125 million three-day),Frozen($93.6 million five-day)

$117.5 million

$262.4 million(by Sunday)

Grease($188.2 million)

While “Glicked” did not prove to have the box office might of “Barbenheimer,” the 2023 weekend whenBarbieandOppenheimerpropped one another up for huge double-feature grosses, bothWickedandGladiator IIare still turning out solid five-day haulsin their second weekends. TheWickedreleaseis set for a five-day total of$117.5 millionwith a three-day of $80 million, which is a dazzlingly slim 28% drop, landing it at No. 2.

Meanwhile,Gladiator II’s projections show it landing at No. 3with a$44 millionfive-day gross and a$30.7 millionthree-day gross, marking a decent44.2%drop. Below, see the full domestic Top 5 chart for the weekend, with both 3-day and 5-day totals:

1

$221 million (weekend 1)

2

$80 million

$262.4 million (weekend 2)

3

$30.7 million

$44 million

$111.2 million (weekend 2)

4

$12.8 million

$18.7 million

$75 million (weekend 3)

5

$3.2 million

$4.85 million

$32 million (weekend 4)

TheRed Onereleasehas fallen to No. 4 in its third weekend with an $18.7 million 5-day total and a $12.8 million 3-day weekend. Whileit had a terrifically small drop of just 3%that has pushed its cumulative domestic total to $75 million, it is still underperforming, falling far short of its reported $250 million budget. Additionally,The Best Christmas Pageant Everhas made a surprise reappearance on the list after falling to No. 6 in its third weekend, bringing in a $4.85 million 5-day total to bring its cumulative domestic haul to $32 million.

To make room for the new and returning titles on the list,the previous weekend’s No. 4 and No. 5 titles have now fallen off the chart. The Angel Studios movieBonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.has slid from No. 4 to No. 6 with a $3.44 million 5-day and a cumulative $9.7 million, while the Sony’s Spider-Man Universe outingVenom: The Last Dancehas gone from No. 5 to No. 7 with a $3.1 million 5-day and a cumulative $137.8 million.

What This Opening Weekend Means For Moana 2

It Is Already A Smash Success

TheMoana 2box officeis already turning out massively impressive results. In addition to nearly quadrupling the original 2016 movie’s $56.6 million debut,in just five days it has almost matched its predecessor’s entire domestic box office runof $248.7 million. Considering the fact that the originalMoanawas the 12th highest-grossing movie of the year worldwide, this shows that the sequel has a very bright future. Additionally, given the new movie’s reported budget of roughly $150 million, its break-even point is likely somewhere around $375 million, a goal it should have absolutely no trouble reaching.

Because theaters keep half of ticket sales and marketing costs are not factored into production budgets, movies typically need to earn at least two-and-a-half times their budgets.

It remains to be seen ifMoana 2can surpass theInside Out 2box officeto become the highest-grossing animated movie of all time. The Pixar title had a five-day gross of $205.4 million without being bolstered by a holiday, so it seems thatthey may stay neck-and-neck for some time. However, between these two releases alone, Disney is having a banner year compared to 2023, during which they delivered several notable franchise flops, includingIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny($384 million against a roughly $387 million budget) andThe Marvels($206.1 million against $274.8 million).

Our Take On The Weekend Box Office

2024 Is Ending With A Bang

While theGladiator IIreleasehas had the most muted performance, all three marquee titles have performed incredibly well over the Thanksgiving weekend. This could spell very good news for theatrical distribution at the end of a year that has had extreme ups and downs in the wake of the 2023 writers and actors strikes, which saw many delayed tentpoles flee to 2025 while the unions fought for fair pay. WithWickedandMoana 2forging new paths for success,this could be the opening salvo of a huge recoverythat might come from the even more robust 2025 slate.

Moana 2

Cast

Moana 2 is the sequel to the 2016 animated film Moana. Directed by David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller, the film continues the journey of Moana as she embarks on new adventures, exploring the vast Pacific Ocean while encountering new characters and challenges along the way.

Wicked

Wicked adapts the Broadway musical into a two-part film, following the unlikely friendship between Elphaba, born with green skin, and Glinda, a popular aristocrat, in the Land of Oz. As they navigate their contrasting paths, they evolve into Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

Gladiator II

Gladiator 2 is the follow-up to Ridley Scott’s award-winning film Gladiator from 2000. Scott returns to direct the sequel, with Paul Mescal staring as Lucius, alongside Denzel Washington and Joseph Quinn as the villain Emperor Geta. Gladiator 2 had been stuck in development hell for years before a script written by David Scarpa finally moved forward.