A week of major movie releases has propelled this holiday stretch to the highest-grossing Thanksgiving weekend ever at the box office.
First, viewers packed theaters to sing with the witches of Oz and watch a vengeful gladiator face the horrors of the ancient Roman Colosseum. Then, they returned to the big screen to follow Moana’s treacherous seafaring journey.
Grossing $221 million across North America since its Wednesday release, “Moana 2” has shattered box office records with the biggest five-day opening of all time — including the biggest Thanksgiving debut ever. The film soared past “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”’s previous five-day opening record of $204.6 million, and nearly doubled the $15 million Thanksgiving day record formerly set by “Frozen 2.”
Set in ancient Polynesia, the sequel to Disney’s 2016 “Moana” follows Moana, the daughter of an island chief, as she leaves her home of Motunui to break a Polynesian god’s curse and save her people.
Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman said in a statement that the film has “far surpassed our high expectations this weekend and is a testament to the phenomenon that ‘Moana’ has become.”
Universal’s “Wicked” and Paramount’s “Gladiator II” continued to rake in revenue throughout Thanksgiving weekend, with “Wicked” grossing an estimated $117.5 million and “Gladiator II” getting $44 million in domestic earnings over the five-day period.
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