‘Moana 2’ and ‘Wicked’ fuel biggest Thanksgiving box office ever

It was all feast and no famine at the Thanksgiving box office this year.

The label team of Disney’s “Moana 2,” Universal’s “Wicked” and Paramount’s “Gladiator II” pushed the five-day Thanksgiving holiday to its biggest in movie history: some An estimated $420 million through Sunday.

“A perfect storm at the Thanksgiving box office, fueled by a trio of films in the musical, drama and family genres, has arrived at the most advantageous time to revitalize the theatrical market after a post-summer malaise ” said Paul Dergarabedian. , senior media analyst at Comscore.

“Moana 2” led the frame with $221 million over the five-day period, a significant outperformance compared to the Box office analysts initially expected $100 million. It marked the highest performance for a Thanksgiving weekend movie, surpassing 2019’s “Frozen II,” which earned $125 million during the period.

“Wicked” continued to soar with $117.5 million in estimated holiday box office sales, bringing its total domestic haul to $262.42 million. It is now the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation of all time at the domestic box office. Globally, the film stands at $359.2 million after 10 days in theaters.

“Gladiator II” added $44 million to its Thanksgiving total. It has earned $111.2 million in domestic ticket sales in its first 10 days in theaters and $320 million worldwide since its international opening earlier this month.

“There are no words to describe the historic weekend we’ve seen unfold in theaters,” said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory. “When a movie exceeds expectations the way ‘Moana 2’ has, that alone is a great story. When other movies like ‘Wicked’ and ‘Gladiator II’ excel at the same time, it’s a powerful reminder of the importance that cinema continues to maintain in our culture”.

According to Comscore data, Thanksgiving holiday grosses haven’t topped $200 million since 2019. And, before this weekend, only one Thanksgiving period had topped $300 million of dollars

The previous record was held by the 2018 slate, which was led by “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Creed II” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” These titles helped generate $315 million in ticket sales combined.

This year’s overperformance at the box office during the Thanksgiving period has also helped close the gap between releases in 2024 and 2023. The 2024 box office was hit hard after the twin labor strikes in Hollywood the previous year, which halted production and pushed many major blockbuster releases to 2025 and beyond.

Heading into this holiday period, the 2024 box office was down 11% compared to last year’s numbers. Now, it’s just 6.4% behind, according to Comscore data.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal distributed “Wicked” and owns “Fandango.”