Disney’s ‘Moana 2’ leads the charge, with combined ticket sales from top films delivering the largest Thanksgiving box office weekend in US history.
The Thanksgiving weekend of 2024 saw an unprecedented surge at the box office, led by the highly anticipated releases of Moana 2 and Wicked. Together with Gladiator II, these films shattered records, propelling the US and Canadian box office to its most successful holiday weekend in history.
Moana 2, the sequel to Disney’s 2016 animated hit, launched with an estimated $368 million in global ticket sales by Sunday. The film reunites Auli’i Cravalho as Moana and Dwayne Johnson as Maui, as the duo embarks on an adventurous journey to break a curse and unite the people of the ocean. Initially planned as a series for Disney+, Moana 2 instead made a splash on the big screen, surpassing expectations with a remarkable $221 million in domestic sales between Wednesday and Sunday. This figure dwarfs the $125 million domestic earnings of Frozen 2 during the 2019 Thanksgiving weekend.
The box office boom extended beyond Moana 2. Wicked, the long-awaited film adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical, also contributed significantly to the record-breaking total. Paired with Gladiator II, the combined domestic ticket sales for all films over the weekend reached a staggering $420 million, easily surpassing the previous Thanksgiving record of $315.6 million set in 2018, which had been driven by Ralph Breaks the Internet and Creed II.
This surge in box office success is a welcome sign for Hollywood, which has been grappling with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of streaming services. Cinemas and film studios alike are celebrating this record-breaking achievement as a testament to the continued appeal of movie-going experiences, even in the age of home entertainment.
As Hollywood recovers from the challenges of the past few years, the success of Moana 2, Wicked, and other films during this holiday period offers a ray of hope, proving that audiences are still flocking to theatres when the right films are on offer.
