Disney’s Moana 2 prepares for a global debut with projections indicating a record-breaking Thanksgiving box office performance. Domestic presales and international demand are driving significant interest in the animated sequel.

Disney’s Moana 2 is projected to be a massive hit at the box office, as it’s poised to break the all time Thanksgiving weekend record. Domestically, the highly anticipated animated sequel is estimated to earn somewhere between $125-135 million domestically over the extended five-day frame.

Wicked also boasts the fourth-best start ever for a musical, falling between Frozen II ($130 million in 2019) and Halle Bailey ’s The Little Mermaid ($95.5 million in 2023). Overall, Wicked ’s release was the third-highest of the year behind Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2.

That’s the best Monday ever for November, better than Frozen II ($12.7M, Nov. 25, 2019), better than The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($12.3M, Nov. 25, 2013), higher than Skyfall ($11.3M, Nov. 12, 2012) and bigger than post-Covid’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($11.1M, Nov. 14, 2022). Wicked shoots up to $128.1M through four days.

What will be the winners and the losers this week at the U.S. box office? Walt Disney Studios’ “Moana 2” is the only major new release set to open in theaters on Wednesday, hoping to ride the wave of Thanksgiving weekend ticket sales.

With a combined $270 million in worldwide ticket sales, “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” breathed fresh life into a box office that has struggled lately.

Moviegoers looked to the western sky this weekend in record numbers, as “Wicked” defied expectations by earning a whopping $114 million at the U.S. box office. That’s the best opening weekend ever for a film adaptation of a Broadway musical,