Moana 2 Shatters Records With $221M Thanksgiving Week Sales, Cementing Disney’s ‘Box Office Champ’ Status: Retail Cheers

Moana 2’s weekend tally of $135.5 million was Disney Animation's best-ever start.

Walt Disney Co. ($DIS) shares ended Friday’s abbreviated session on a modestly negative note despite the strong box numbers for its animated sequel “Moana 2.”  The Polynesian animated adventure continued to do brisk business, collecting a record $221 million domestically over the Thanksgiving week since its opening on Wednesday, according to Box Office Mojo’s estimates.

The number beat initial estimates of $135 million-$145 million, and far exceeded the previous high of $125 million for the Frozen II, which debuted in 2019.

Moana 2’s three-day tally  of $135.5 million for the weekend was the best start for Disney Animation, beating Frozen II’s collection of $130.2 million during the weekend before Thanksgiving. 

Moana 2 also enjoyed the highest five-day opening of all time surpassing the 2023 Super Mario Bros. movie ($204.6 million), Disney said.

Globally, Moana 2 earned $386 million in ticket sales.

Disney said its hot box office streak continues, as “Moana 2” joins “Inside Out 2,” “Deadpool” and “Wolverine” as the top domestic openings of 2024.

Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, said, “Moana 2 has far surpassed our high expectations this weekend and is a testament to the phenomenon that Moana has become.”

“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.”

Stocktwits platform users were generally upbeat. One Stocktwits user said the stock could be headed toward the $160 level.

Another said the stock is still a strong buy, given the company has made streaming profitable and returned to “box office champ” status. 

Disney shares ended Friday’s session down 0.11% at $117.47, and are up over 30% for the year.

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