“Moana 2” Paddles Into Movie History With Record-Shattering Debut
A trio of excellent directors—David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller—a canoe full of beloved animated characters, led by stars Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson, and incredible animators, storyboard artists, sound designers, visual effects artists, musicians, all collaborated to bring Moana 2 to the screen. Now, their efforts have paid off in the biggest five-day opening of all time. It was an incredible act of cinematic history wayfinding that Johnson’s demigod Maui would appreciate.
Moana (Cravalho) and her demigod bestie Maui (Johnson) set sail on Thanksgiving eve, and since then, coasted to a stunning $221 million over its first five days, proving audiences were eager to rejoin Moana and Maui on their first adventure since the
Like its predecessor, Moana 2 was led by a predominantly Polynesian cast—joining the first film’s breakout star Auli’i Cravalho and international superstar Dwayne Johnson are Temuera Morrison, Rachel House, Nicole Scherzinger, Rose Matafeo, and Hualalai Chung. It’s another example of the multinational family that is the film industry, with one of the mightiest American studios joining forces with an international cast, filming on location in Polynesia, and conjuring up the incredible animation in Disney’s studios in Burbank, California.
Moana 2 joined two films that were already massive hits over the Thanksgiving weekend—Universal’s Wicked and Paramount’s Gladiator II—to pull off the biggest Thanksgiving holiday haul of all time at $420 million combined. What’s even more astonishing is that Moana 2 was originally slated to be a series on Disney+ but was shifted to become a feature film. That decision seems wise, especially considering the original is the most-streamed movie across all platforms.
Moana 2 bested the previous five-day record holder of all time, The Super Mario Bros. Movie (April 2023), which leaped to $203 million and nearly doubled the total of the previous Thanksgiving weekend winner, Frozen II (2019), which pulled in $125 million.
The sequel is set three years after the events in the original. Moana has grown up since we last saw her as our irrepressible heroine, and she sets off on an adventure to answer a call from her ancestors on a dangerous voyage. She’s always been a courageous spirit, but now she’s a leader. It’s her responsibility to make life better for her people and to protect her island.
“Moana 2 has far surpassed our high expectations this weekend and is a testament to the phenomenon that Moana has become,” Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman said in a statement. “We’re fortunate to have an incredibly talented and hard-working creative team at Disney Animation who brought this new adventure to life, alongside our wonderful stars Auli’i and Dwayne and great new music. This is a moment to celebrate, and we’re thankful to all the moviegoers and fans who’ve helped make this a record-breaking debut.”
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Featured image: THE OCEAN CALLS — Walt Disney Animation Studios’ epic, all-new animated musical “Moana 2” takes audiences on an expansive new voyage with Moana, Maui and a brand-new crew of unlikely seafarers. The follow-up to 2016’s Oscar®-nominated film opens in theaters on Nov. 27, 2024. © 2024 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
