As a seasoned moviegoer with decades of cinematic adventures under my belt, I can confidently say that this weekend’s box office was a clear testament to the enduring power of Disney’s magical storytelling. The success of “Moana 2” is nothing short of extraordinary, especially considering its humble beginnings as a TV series. It’s a reminder that sometimes, even the unconventional paths can lead to extraordinary heights.
In its second weekend, Disney’s animated film “Moana 2” continued to be the top pick at cinemas, earning an impressive $52 million across approximately 4,200 North American theaters.
The earnings from ticket sales for “Moana 2” dropped by approximately two-thirds compared to its initial record-breaking release during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, which grossed $139 million over the standard period and $225 million during the extended five-day holiday. Despite this, “Moana 2” managed to surpass the previous post-Thanksgiving weekend benchmark set by “Frozen II,” earning $35.2 million. However, it’s worth noting that “Frozen II” was already in theaters before Thanksgiving and had been screened for three weekends prior to this point.
The success of “Moana 2” has been a significant advantage for movie theater owners, given that it was initially planned as a TV series in a Polynesian setting. To date, the sequel has earned $300 million domestically and $600 million internationally, and is poised to surpass the lifetime gross of its predecessor, “Moana” (2016), which stands at $643 million worldwide. In no time, it’ll outshine its predecessor in terms of overall earnings. Although the original movie had a good run at the box office, the enchanting tale, featuring popular songs like “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome”, saw a massive surge in popularity on Disney+ and has consistently been one of the most-watched titles on streaming.
Over the weekend, A24’s horror-comedy “Y2K,” which was the only significant new release, underperformed against movies like “Moana 2” and other post-Thanksgiving offerings. The movie opened in the eighth spot, earning a lackluster $2.1 million from 2,108 theaters. This is one of the poorest debuts this year for a film that screened in over 2,000 theaters. Critics and audiences gave the millennium disaster flick poor reviews, with a “C-” grade on CinemaScore and a 44% “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The negative feedback doesn’t seem promising for the film’s word-of-mouth, directed by former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Kyle Mooney, and starring Rachel Zegler, known for her roles in “West Side Story” and the upcoming “Hunger Games” prequel.
Meanwhile at cinemas nationwide, the adaptation of “Wicked” from Universal continued to be a pull with earnings of $34.85 million from 3,885 screens in its third week on the big screen, marking a decrease of 57% compared to the Thanksgiving weekend. To date, this high-budget musical has amassed a total of $320.5 million domestically, placing it as the fourth highest-grossing domestic release of 2024, trailing behind “Inside Out 2” ($652 million), “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($636 million) and “Despicable Me 4” ($361 million). Notably, “Wicked” has fared much better in North America than it has overseas, where it has earned $135 million to bring its worldwide total to $455 million.
Contrarily, Paramount’s “Gladiator II” has garnered significantly more success abroad than it has in the U.S. This long-awaited sequel to Ridley Scott’s 2000 Academy Award-winning film, “Gladiator,” held its ground at third place with $12.4 million from 3,885 locations, showing a 60% drop from the previous week. Domestically, it has earned a total of $132.7 million after three weeks in theaters. The R-rated blockbuster, which carries a production cost exceeding $250 million (not including promotions), has accumulated over $200 million internationally and surpassed $350 million worldwide.
In a surprising turn, the Indian Telugu-language action thriller “Pushpa: The Rule Part 2” and the 10th anniversary re-release of Paramount’s “Interstellar” have outperformed the fellow debutant “Y2K” on domestic box office rankings.
In a remarkable showing, “Pushpa” claimed the fifth position with earnings of $5.5 million across 1,245 movie theaters. The highly anticipated sequel to the 2021 release “Pushpa: The Rise,” starring one of India’s most prominent actors, Allu Arjun, was at the helm. Previously, the original film screened in North American cinemas for a single weekend, accumulating $1.32 million from 400 screens.
Finishing sixth in box office earnings, Christopher Nolan’s science fiction masterpiece “Interstellar” raked in a substantial $4.4 million from merely 165 IMAX theaters. This impressive revenue underscores that Nolan, the director of upcoming film “Oppenheimer,” the “Dark Knight” trilogy, and “Inception,” is one of the few directors who can sell tickets solely based on his reputation.
More to come…
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2024-12-08 19:16