NEW YORK (AP) — Christmas came early at the box office this year.
“Moana 2” An influx of moviegoers over the Thanksgiving weekend set a record for ticket sales of $221 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. When combined with that, “evil” and “Gladiator II” It was built for an unprecedented weekend in movie theaters and the kind of blockbuster weekend typically seen in late December.
Expectations were high for Walt Disney Co.'s Moana 2, but this movie subverted them. During its five days of release, it set a Thanksgiving movie viewing record. The previous highest-grossing movie was Frozen 2, which earned $125 million in its second week of release in 2019, and Moana 2 added $165.3 million worldwide.
at the same time, “Wicked” feeling There was no sign of the momentum slowing down. The Universal Pictures musical grossed $117.5 million over the five-day weekend, bringing its two-week worldwide box office total to $359.2 million. Not accounting for inflation, “Wicked'' is currently the highest-grossing Broadway film, surpassing “Grease.''
(The 1978 film grossed $190 million, which would have exceeded $900 million after accounting for inflation.)
Meanwhile, Gladiator II continued to perform well, dropping 44% from its opening weekend. Ridley Scott's sequel to the Oscar-winning Oscar-winning film raked in $44 million in its second week of release. “Gladiator II” quickly raked in $320 million worldwide, although its hefty $250 million price tag made it difficult to turn a profit.
These three films set a record for Thanksgiving weekend ticket sales with an overall box office total of over $400 million. For an industry that has been battered in recent years by the pandemic, business shutdowns and streaming disruption, it was a triumphant weekend that showed how powerful Hollywood's blockbuster machine remains. Before “Wicked,” “Moana 2” and “Gladiator II” hit theaters, ticket sales were about 25% behind pre-pandemic levels.
