Moana 2 release kicked off midweek, the day before Thanksgiving, after breaking the record for the most first-day pre-sales of any 2024 animated movie.

Per Disney, as of Sunday morning, Moana 2 is projected to close out its opening weekend with a 3-day gross of $135.5 million and a 5-day total of $221 million at the domestic box office on its way to a projected $368 million worldwide debut. This domestic debut smashes a variety of records, including the highest-grossing Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday day, 3-day Thanksgiving weekend, and 5-day Thanksgiving weekend of all time, beating 2019's Frozen II, which was the previous record-holder on all counts, as well as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which had already overtaken by Frozen II.

Moana 2 has also broken the record for the biggest 5-day opening weekend of all time (beating The Super Mario Bros. Movie), the biggest Thanksgiving debut ever (beating Frozen), and the biggest Walt Disney Animation Studios debut of all time (beating Frozen II).

What This Means For Moana 2

Its Success Is Mind-Boggling

With this record-breaking opening, the Moana 2 box office could very well be en route to becoming the highest-grossing Walt Disney Animated Studios movie of all time. In fact, with its $368 million global opening weekend projections, it is already set to become the company's 12th highest-grossing movie of all time within just five days of its run, beating out the entire worldwide grosses of previous classics including The Hunchback of Notre Dame ($325.5 million), Bambi ($268 million), and Mulan ($304.3 million).

At the time of writing, Walt Disney Animation Studios has released 63 movies.

However, it remains to be seen if it beats the Inside Out 2 box office to become the highest-grossing animated movie of all time in general. The Pixar release had a domestic opening weekend of $154.2 million, beating Moana 2's 3-day gross by more than $18 million. While its 5-day total of $205.4 million fell roughly $15 million below that of the newer release, it did not debut on a holiday weekend, so it did not get an extra midweek boost and thus can't be properly compared.

Our Take On The Moana 2 Box Office

There Is Nowhere To Go But Up

Moana Holding a Paddle Behind her Neck in Moana 2

Custom Image by Milica Djordjevic

Even though the movie may not end up being the highest-grossing animated movie of all time, it can already be considered a sterling success. Outgrossing the original movie by a huge margin and earning more than $1 billion seem entirely within the realm of possibility. This could especially be the case in the wake of solid Moana 2 reviews earning it a Rotten Tomatoes score of 65% with an even better audience score of 87%.

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Source: Disney

Moana 2 (2024) official poster

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Moana 2
PG
Animation
Comedy
Fantasy
Musical
Adventure
6/10
199
8.1/10
Release Date
November 27, 2024
Runtime
100 Minutes
Director
David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller

Cast

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WHERE TO WATCH

Streaming
RENT
BUY

Moana 2 is the sequel to the 2016 animated film Moana. Directed by David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller, the film continues the journey of Moana as she embarks on new adventures, exploring the vast Pacific Ocean while encountering new characters and challenges along the way.

Writers
Dana Ledoux Miller, Jared Bush, Ron Clements, John Musker, Bek Smith
Franchise(s)
Disney
Studio(s)
Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios
Distributor(s)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Main Genre
Animation
Where To Stream
Disney+