moana wicked gladiator

Source: Disney / Universal / Paramount

‘Moana 2’, ‘Wicked’, ‘Gladiator II’

Worldwide box office November 29-December 1

RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world)Cume (world)3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l)Territories
 1. Moana 2 (Disney)  $300.8m  $386.3m  $165.3m  $165.3m  51
 2. Wicked (Universal)  $109m  $359.3m  $29m  $96.9m  62
 3.  Gladiator II (Paramount)  $57.9m  $320m  $27.2m  $208.8m  65
 4.  Red One (Warner Bros)  $17.9m  $148.7m  $5m  $72.6m  76
 5.  Her Story (various)  $17.5m  $38.8m  $17.5m  $38.8m  6
 6.  Venom: The Last Dance (Sony)  $6m  $468.2m  $3.8m  $330.3m  67
 7.  Heretic (various)  $3.3m  $38.7m  $2.4m  $11.9m  28
 8.  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (various)  $3.3m  $32.1m  $10,000  $145,000  3
 9.  Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Our Dinosaur Diary (China)  $3.3m  $33.3m  $3.3m  $33.3m  1
 10.  Good Luck (various)  $2.8m  $2.8m  $2.8m  $2.8m  1

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates

Moana’s massive start

UPDATED: Moana 2 opened to a huge $389m worldwide, including $303.5m from Friday to Sunday. The family animation sequel scored the second-highest global opening of 2024, behind only Disney stablemate Deadpool & Wolverine ($444.1m).

In an excellent result for the House of Mouse, the film took the second-highest international opening of 2024 on reported figures, also behind Deadpool & Wolverine, and the second-highest animated opening on comparable release patterns, behind Disney’s Inside Out 2.

It was number one in all opening markets, excluding China where it was the number one non-local title. It took nearly $100m in Europe alone, with $92.6m.

Top international markets for Moana 2 included France – where it took $18.8m, the highest animated opening weekend ever in that territory; the UK & Ireland ($15.5m); Mexico ($11.1m); Germany ($10.5m); Italy ($9.3m); South Korea ($9.1m); Australia ($8.3m); Brazil ($7.5m); China ($6.5m); and Spain ($5.5m) – all figures for five-day openings.

It performed equally well in smaller markets, as the highest animated opening of all time in Poland, Serbia and Nigeria, as well as UAE, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey.

Adding in its $221m five-day North America opening, Moana 2 sped past both the opening weekends and the cumulative totals of Gladiator II ($87m; $320m) and Wicked ($163m; $359.3m).

The film still has Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand to come next weekend; in the battle of the blockbusters, Disney also has Mufasa: The Lion King still to come on December 20.

The sequel sees Moana journey to the far seas of Oceania after receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors. Auli’I Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Hualalai Chung and Rose Matafeo lead the voice cast. 

Wicked continues to fly

UPDATED: In the context of a family-friendly rival, Universal’s Wicked posted a strong second weekend, falling 34% across all territories with $110.4m. The musical adaptation, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, has now reached $360.3m.

It added $29.2m from international territories – down 38% on its previous international session – for a $97.1m international total to date. It is in line with Wonka, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore, Mamma Mia 2 and The Little Mermaid, and ahead of Les Misérables at the same stage.

UK-Ireland leads the way, falling a modest 38% with $10.7m – the best hold of the top titles. It is up to $35.9m in the territory – in line with Frozen 2 and Mamma Mia 2, and beyond Aladdin, Gladiator II, Wonka, The Jungle Book, Les Misérables and The Little Mermaid at the same stage. Full details will follow in the UK-Ireland box office report later today.

Other strong holds came in Singapore (-9%), Taiwan (-13%), Israel (-19%), Australia (-26%), New Zealand (-26%), Philippines (-28%), Malaysia (-29%) and Saudi Arabia (-39%).

The film opens this week in France (December 4) and China (December 6), followed by Germany on December 12.

Universal stablemate The Wild Robot was squeezed by Moana 2, dropping 67% with $2.1m bringing its total to $321.8m. Mexico is the biggest international market with $21m, with Japan to come on February 7, 2025.

Gladiator II puts up a good fight

Paramount’s Gladiator II added $71.2m worldwide, down just 33% on its previous session and including $27.2m from international territories. 

UK-Ireland and France were the top two international markets, with $3.4m each, for a $29.7m UK-Ireland total and $22.5m in France. It is up to $320m worldwide. Chile posted the best hold from key markets, dropping 12% with $296,000 bringing it to $1.8m; the Netherlands also performed well, falling 32% with $861,000 taking it to $4.8m.

Asian titles

The three blockbuster releases dominated the chart, pushing the top 10 titles to over $500m cumulatively. Elsewhere, Shao Yihui’s Chinese comedy-drama Her Story added another $17.5m, expanding to six markets, for a $38.8m total.

Playing in China alone, Japanese anime Crayon Shin-chan The Movie: Our Dinosaur Story added a further $3.3m, for a $33.3m total, having opened in Japan on August 9, Vietnam on August 17 and Hong Kong on September 8.

Indian comedy-drama Good Luck started with $2.8m, sneaking into the global top 10. Directed by Prakhar Shrivastava and Azad Jain, the film follows a family thrown into chaos when their 75-year-old matriarch is unsure if she is pregnant.

Holding space for Christmas

While the three Christmas blockbusters will continue to dominate screens, none of them are seasonally-themed. This leaves room for Yuletide titles, such as Lionsgate’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which added $3.3m – predominantly from its latest US weekend – for $32.1m worldwide to date.