Moana 2 Breaks Records With $13.8 Million In Box Office Previews: Report – News18

Last Updated:November 28, 2024, 15:34 IST

Moana 2 is already making waves in the industry with its Tuesday preview earnings.

Disney’s much-anticipated animated film Moana 2 is already making waves in the industry. The film earned a jaw-dropping $13.8 million in Tuesday previews, setting a new record for Walt Disney Animation, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Released on November 27, Moana 2 now holds the title of the second-highest preview earnings for any animated movie. The first is Pixar’s Incredibles 2, which grossed around $18.5 million during summer previews.

The Dana Ledoux Miller, Jason Hand and David Derrick Jr. directed film also topped Tuesday’s pre-Thanksgiving preview gross of all time, highlighting its widespread appeal amongst the audience. Moreover, the sequel is expected to rake in $125 million to $135 million over the five-day holiday weekend, potentially becoming the biggest Thanksgiving opening ever.

If all goes well, Moana 2 can also surpass the five-day record of Disney’s Frozen II, which earned $125 million and Frozen, which holds the Thanksgiving weekend record of $93.6 million.

It’s worth noting that the Thanksgiving box office is very competitive this year, with Moana 2 going up against the recently released Wicked, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, and Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2. While Universal’s Wicked topped Tuesday’s chart with $16.6 million, Paramount’s Gladiator II brought in $6.7 million.

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ musical Moana 2’s storyline will continue for three years after the first film, which was released in 2016. The new movie will reunite the dynamic duo Moana (voice of Auliʻi Cravalho) and Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson) for a new voyage alongside a crew of seafarers. The story will revolve around the adventurous journey Moana embarks on after receiving an unexpected message from her wayfinding ancestors. She will venture to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an unlikely adventure.

Just days before Moana 2’s release, directors Dana Ledoux Miller, Jason Hand and David Derrick Jr spoke about the introduction of a new character, Simea, Moana’s little sister, in the film. In a conversation with CinemaBlend, David said, “We draw from our own experiences and early on, I was drawing from my own life. My eldest daughter’s name is Simea. She’s 21 years old. And, we have a younger son, Quentin, who’s only seven years old, and the two of them are so close.”

He continued, “There’s just a love and connection that I had never seen between siblings of that age gap. So, giving Moana a little sister for me, like really made it possible for Moana to be rooted in Motunui, see a love that she didn’t have before and show how things have grown and changed.”

Moana 2 will be released in India on November 29.