'Moana 2' leads in highest-grossing Thanksgiving weekend ever at box office

A week of major movie releases has propelled this holiday stretch to the highest-grossing Thanksgiving weekend ever at the box office.

First, viewers packed theaters to sing with the witches of Oz and watch a vengeful gladiator face the horrors of the ancient Roman Colosseum. Then, they returned to the big screen to follow Moana’s treacherous seafaring journey.

The trio contributes to an estimated Thanksgiving weekend total of a whopping $420 million, according to box office data from Comscore — surpassing the previous record of $315.6 million set in 2018, led by the releases of “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Creed II” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.”

“Not only did we surpass the previous records for Thanksgiving," said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at the company. "This sets a completely new standard for what is possible over the Thanksgiving holiday for movie theaters."

He added that “Moana II” in particular blew past box office experts’ predictions by nearly $100 million.

Grossing $221 million across North America since its Wednesday release, “Moana 2” has shattered box office records with the biggest five-day opening of all time — including the biggest Thanksgiving debut ever. The film soared past the previous five-day opening record of $204.6 million for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” and nearly doubled the $15 million Thanksgiving Day record formerly set by “Frozen 2.”

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'Moana 2' shatters Thanksgiving box office record

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Set in ancient Polynesia, the sequel to Disney’s 2016 “Moana” follows Moana, the daughter of an island chief, as she leaves her home of Motunui to break a Polynesian god’s curse and save her people.

Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman said in a statement that the film has “far surpassed our high expectations this weekend and is a testament to the phenomenon that ‘Moana’ has become.”

Universal’s “Wicked” and Paramount’s “Gladiator II” continued to rake in revenue throughout Thanksgiving weekend, with “Wicked” grossing an estimated $117.5 million and defying gravity to become the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation of all time domestically. “Gladiator II” also contributed $44 million to domestic box office earnings over the five-day period.

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Both films, released on Nov. 22 ahead of Thanksgiving week, have prompted widespread comparisons to last summer’s “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, when “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” created an unprecedented box office event as well as a cultural moment unlike any other. Fans online quickly dubbed “Wicked” and “Gladiator II”’s double feature “Glicked.” 

The lively Broadway show tunes of “Wicked,” starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, contrasted with Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II,” an action-packed film with swords, violent battles and ancient warfare. The counterprogramming, combined with a buildup of social media buzz, boosted initial turnout in theaters — and they both continued to dominate the box office past the double feature release.

Then “Moana II” opened on what Dergarabedian described as a “perfect” release date: the day before Thanksgiving, just as children are getting out of school and families are gathering.

“Just that one-two punch of family moviegoing excitement created by the ‘Glicked’ marketing hook, and then followed up by ‘Moana II,’ was an unbeatable combination,” Dergarabedian said. “This will lead into a really strong home stretch for movie theaters.”