NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Christmas came early at the box office this year.
brought in a tidal wave of moviegoers over the Thanksgiving Day weekend, setting records with $221 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. That, combined with and made for an unprecedented weekend in cinemas and a confluence of blockbusters more like what鈥檚 often found in late December.
Expectations were high for Walt Disney Co.鈥檚 鈥淢oana 2,鈥� but the film 鈥� originally planned as a series for Disney+ before it was redirected to the big screen 鈥� blew predictions out of the water. Its five-day opening set a new record for Thanksgiving moviegoing. (The previous best was $125 million for 鈥淔rozen 2鈥� in its second week of release in 2019.) 鈥淢oana 2鈥� added $165.3 million internationally; with $386 million worldwide, it's the second-best global launch of the year.
At the same time, showed no signs of slowing down. The Universal Pictures musical brought in $117.5 million over the five-day weekend, pushing its two-week global total to $359.2 million. Not accounting for inflation, 鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥� is now the highest grossing Broadway adaptation over 鈥淕rease.鈥� (That 1978 film grossed $190 million, but factoring in inflation would put it past $900 million.)
鈥淕ladiator II,鈥� meanwhile, also held well, dipping 44% from its opening weekend. Ridley Scott鈥檚 sequel to his Oscar-winning best picture original collected $44 million in its second weekend. While its steep price tag of $250 million will make profitability challenging, 鈥淕ladiator II鈥� has swiftly gathered $320 million worldwide.
Those three films drove the overall box office to a record $420 million in overall Thanksgiving weekend ticket sales, according to Comscore 鈥� more than $100 million more than ever before. For an industry that has been battered in recent years by the pandemic, work stoppages and the upheaval caused by streaming, it was a triumphant weekend that showed the still-potent power of Hollywood鈥檚 blockbuster machine. Before 鈥淲icked,鈥� 鈥淢oana 2鈥� and 鈥淕ladiator II鈥� arrived in theaters, ticket sales were running about 25% behind pre-pandemic levels.
Michael O鈥橪eary, president and chief executive of the National Association of Theatre Owners, said the weekend showed what鈥檚 possible when 鈥渁ll the pieces of the puzzle come together鈥� in compelling big-budget movies with marketing muscle.
鈥淲e鈥檙e very optimistic that this weekend is the start of what we believe is a full-on charge into the future,鈥� he said. "The remaining quarter of this year looks very promising and then on into 2025 and 2026. We鈥檙e hoping next year is the first kind of normal year this industry has had in a long time.鈥�
Like the last time such anticipated movies collided on the release calendar 鈥� 2023's much-ballyhooed 鈥� the movie industry again could see evidence of a rising moviegoing tide lifting all blockbusters. In recent years, studios have typically tried to space out most of their biggest releases. Earlier this fall, 鈥淰enom: The Last Dance," for example, was , despite not being particularly successful.
鈥淔or a long, long time in Hollywood, there鈥檚 been a belief that you don鈥檛 put big blockbuster movies up against each other,鈥� said O'Leary. 鈥淏ut the truth of the matter is that competition is good. It鈥檚 good for the movies. It鈥檚 good for the studios. It鈥檚 good for the theater owners. But it鈥檚 particularly good for the moviegoing public.鈥�
鈥淢oana 2鈥� was the nexus of a strategy shift for Disney. When it first began development, it was fashioned as a series for streaming. But when Bob Iger returned as chief executive, he reconsidered the balance between theatrical and streaming. The original 鈥淢oana," after all, was the most streamed movie on Disney+ in 2023, with the added benefit of $680 million in box office in 2016. Only in February this year did Iger announce the release of 鈥淢oana 2," with Auli鈥檌 Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson returning as the voices of Moana and Maui.
鈥淚t just shows you that the big screen and small screen are not adversarial. They can be complementary and additive,鈥� says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. 鈥淲hoever made that decision to go big screen globally with 鈥楳oana 2,' that was one of the greatest decisions ever.鈥�
And it helped lead a resurgence for Walt Disney Co., whose last two animated November releases 鈥� 鈥淪trange World鈥� and 鈥淲ish鈥� 鈥� fizzled in theaters. 鈥淢oana 2鈥� may become the third $1 billion-grossing movie for the studio in 2024, along with 鈥淚nside Out 2鈥� and 鈥淒eadpool & Wolverine.鈥� Though reviews for 鈥淢oana 2" have only been 65% 鈥渇resh鈥� on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences gave it an 鈥淎-鈥� CinemaScore.
鈥淢oana 2鈥� is also part of a major rebound for family moviegoing. According to David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter for Franchise Entertainment, family moviegoing in 2024 is going to account for approximately $6.8 billion in ticket sales, roughly the sums of 2022 and 2023, combined.
After such large debuts, 鈥淢oana 2鈥� and 鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥� are likely to continue to drive moviegoing through December. The only question will be if this year's Christmas movies 鈥� historically a much bigger holiday period for theaters 鈥� can come anywhere near the Thanksgiving lineup. Among the movies aiming for that holiday corridor are Disney's 鈥淢ufasa: The Lion King,鈥� Paramount's 鈥淪onic the Hedgehog 3" and Searchlight's 鈥淎 Complete Unknown,鈥� with Timoth茅e Chalamet as a young Bob Dylan.
Final domestic figures will be released Monday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. "Moana 2," $135 million.
2. 鈥淲icked,鈥� $80 million.
3. 鈥淕ladiator II鈥� $30.7 million.
4. 鈥淩ed One,鈥� $12.9 million.
5. 鈥淭he Best Christmas Pageant Ever,鈥� $3.3 million.
6. 鈥淏onhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin,鈥� $2.4 million.
7. 鈥淰enom: The Last Dance,鈥� $2.2 million.
8. 鈥淗eretic,鈥� $956,797.
9. 鈥淭he Wild Robot,鈥� $670,000.
10. 鈥淎 Real Pain,鈥� $665,000.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
