‘Moana 2’ Now Surfing To $370M+ Global Opening – International Box Office
SATURDAY UPDATE: With over-performance in all corners, Disney’s Moana 2 is now eyeing a global opening of $370M+ through Sunday. Anything but a turkey, domestic‘s super-charged Thanksgiving frame is looking at $215M-$220M, while the international box office is expected to ride a wave past $150M. Through Friday, the worldwide cume is $192.7M.
As we noted yesterday (see below), it’s important to recall that without holidays overseas, weekend play is key for the sequel. Based on results through Friday, signs are pointing upwards.
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Friday added a further nine offshore markets, including the U.K., Spain and China, taking the full total to 48 material markets to date. Through Friday, the international running total is $52.7M. That’s an estimated 185% ahead of the first Moana on a like-for-like basis.
The U.K. Friday was the second highest Walt Disney Animation Studios opening day of all time (behind only Frozen 2); coming in 737% ahead of Moana and 8% above Inside Out. Spain logged the biggest WDAS opening day ever; 378% ahead of Moana and 3% atop Frozen 2.
China was a No. 2 start for Moana 2, though this was expected. There is a strong local title continuing play there. Social scores are encouraging, but Maoyan is currently predicting a roughly $20M total throughout the run.
Elsewhere (save India), there were No. 1s across the board, including in Turkey, South Africa, Finland, Norway and Sweden (along with the previous openers as noted below).
The Top five Moana 2 markets through Friday are France ($6.3M), Mexico ($4.4M), UK ($3.6M), Germany ($3.1M) and Italy ($2.8M).
Not included above, Korea had a huge Saturday of $3.3M to bring the total there to $6M after snowstorms in Seoul and the surrounding areas earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Universal’s Wicked is on its way to an estimated $358M global through Sunday. That would include $95M from 61 international markets. Recall that Wicked is not yet playing in its full offshore footprint, with France (December 4), China (December 6), Germany (December 12) and Japan (March 7, 2025) still to come.
Globally at $358M, the Jon M. Chu-directed pic becomes the fourth biggest Broadway adaptation of all time behind Mamma Mia!, Les Misérables and Grease; as well as the biggest Hollywood non-sequel of 2024 ahead of It Ends With Us.
Overseas, Wicked is seeing some impact from Moana 2, but had strong holds on Friday, including U.K. and Ireland (-42%), Australia (-31%), Korea (-29%), Singapore (-2%), Philippines (-15%), New Zealand (-22%), Italy (-43%), Saudi Arabia (-44%), UAE (-45%), Mexico (-45%), Malaysia (-29%) and Indonesia (-41%).
We’ll have a full international box office update on Sunday.
PREVIOUS, FRIDAY UPDATE: Surfing into another 29 overseas markets on Thursday, Disney’s Moana 2 now has an international box office gross of $24.1M through two days in 39 total. Along with domestic’s continued record-breaking performance, the global running cume is $109.6M.
Domestic delivered the best Thanksgiving Day ever — and even though the holiday does not figure overseas, there are records and milestones aplenty offshore (see below).
Early results are putting Moana 2 on a path to a potential $300M+ worldwide start; once Friday’s numbers are in, we’ll have a clearer picture. Important to recall that without holidays overseas, weekend play is key for the sequel. But the first two days’ offshore performance suggests it wouldn’t be surprising to see Dwayne Johnson and Auli’i Cravalho surf past $120M through Sunday internationally.
Thursday added Moana 2 in such majors as Mexico, Brazil, Germany and Australia.
To wit, Mexico grossed $2M on Thursday with 76% market share for the best Walt Disney Animation Studios opening day ever; it came in 255% ahead of Moana, 3% ahead of Frozen 2 and 18% below Finding Dory.
Brazil, with 80% market share for Moana 2, debuted to $1.3M for the 2nd highest WDAS opening day of all time, 4th highest animated opening day ever and 2nd highest animated opening day of 2024 to date (behind Inside Out 2). The bow was 103% ahead of Moana, 87% over Incredibles 2, 73% higher than Finding Dory and 25% below Frozen 2.
Germany’s $1.2M opening Thursday was the 2nd highest for Walt Disney Animated Studios ever (behind only Frozen 2) and the 3rd highest non-local opening day of 2024 to date. Launch day was 226% ahead of Moana and 20% ahead of Inside Out 2 (which had an extra day at open).
Australia, at $1.1M, was the 2nd biggest Disney Pixar/WDAS opening day of all time (behind only Incredibles), the 4th highest animated opening day ever and 2nd biggest opening day of 2024 to date. The start was 141% ahead of Despicable Me 4, 96% above Inside Out 2 and 29% higher than Frozen 2.
PREVIOUS, THURSDAY: Disney’s Moana 2 is off to a splashy start in its early international box office markets, diving in at $8.8M on Wednesday from 10 total with the sequel No. 1 in each. Included in that bunch, France saw the best opening day of 2024 and the 2nd highest animated opening day of all time, while Indonesia logged the top animated launch day ever (more market milestones below).
Globally, the total through Wednesday is $66.3M as the Dwayne Johnson/Auli’i Cravalho-starrer continues to set new benchmarks domestically. Recall that, conversely to domestic, this is not a key holiday period overseas – which makes some of the early-wave offshore numbers and milestones all the more impressive.
Coming into the offshore frame, the projected international box office opening through Sunday is $100M+. If play continues as so far demonstrated in these early overseas markets, that number is likely to swell.
In France, Wednesday’s $3.7M reps the No. 2 biggest animated opening of all time (behind only Incredibles 2), and the biggest opening day of the year. The start was 302% ahead of Moana (+75% including previews), 43% above Frozen 2 (40% including previews) and 44% over Inside Out 2 (-13% including previews).
Indonesia’s $1.2M debut is the biggest animated opening day of all time, and best for a non-local movie this year. At 83% market share, Maui, Moana and friends debuted more than 8x higher than the original film, 5x bigger than Finding Dory, 261% ahead of Incredibles 2, 254% above Inside Out 2 and 111% ahead of Frozen 2.
In Korea, where Seoul and the surrounding areas on Wednesday were hit with the heaviest snowfall for the month of November in 117 years, Moana 2 nevertheless delivered $1.1M for the No. 3 biggest opening day ever of a Walt Disney Animation Studios/Pixar release (behind Frozen 2 and Inside Out 2). Launch day was 154% ahead of Moana, 150% over Finding Dory, and 54% above Incredibles 2. (The estimated cume in the market through today, not included in the totals above, is $1.76M.)
With $900K, Italy gave Moana 2 the 2nd best launch day ever for WDAS title (behind Ralph Breaks the Internet which opened on a holiday). The start is 308% ahead of Moana, 13% ahead of Frozen 2 and 71% below Inside Out 2 which had school holidays in the mix.
Philippines’ $700K on Wednesday is the No. 2 animated bow ever (behind Inside Out 2), and the 2nd best non-local start of 2024. Opening day was 324% ahead of Finding Dory, 165% ahead of Incredibles 2, 76% ahead of Moana and 73% ahead of Frozen 2.
Opening today are Germany, Mexico, Australia and Brazil. Friday adds the UK, Spain and China. In total this opening session, this will rep about 90% of the international footprint as Japan goes a week later, on December 6.
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