A sequel that was intended for Disney+, a musical adaptation that didn’t advertise the fact it was a musical, and the follow-up to a twenty-five year old historical epic have propelled the Thanksgiving U.S. box-office to an all-time high of $422 million for the 5-day holiday.
Per Deadline’s weekend estimates, Moana 2 sailed off with a whopping opening of $215M-$220M, while the sophomore frames of Wicked and Gladiator II brought in $118M and $45M respectively. The total of $422 million tops the 2018 Thanksgiving weekend, where Ralph Breaks the Internet debuted with $84.5 million, lifting the holiday box-office haul to $315.6M.
Moana 2, which we called “a sequence of filler events backed up by no momentum” in our ★★★ review (which you can read here), has exceeded all expectations with its opening haul, while Wicked has added to an already impressive tally that has seen it become the highest grossing musical at the domestic box-office within just a week of release.
These figures are likely to soar even higher come Monday morning’s official count, but in the meantime let us know what you spent your ticket money on this weekend by heading to our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
