‘Moana 2’ Leads Box Office to Biggest Black Friday of All Time
It’s a Black Friday for the ages. Led by the unprecedented opening of Disney’s “Moana 2” and supported by an incredible second weekend for Universal’s “Wicked,” the box office soared to an estimated overall gross of $108 million, the fourth highest single day total ever recorded in U.S./Canada box office history.
The only days that topped this Black Friday are the first two days of release for the opening weekend record holder “Avengers: Endgame” in April 2019 and the day after Christmas in 2015, where “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was on its way to becoming the highest grossing film in domestic box office history.
“Moana 2” is leading the way with $55 million, bringing its total to an incredible $140 million after three days in theaters. Industry estimates have it now on course for a 5-day opening of $220 million, shattering the previous 5-day Thanksgiving record of $125 million set by “Frozen II” after setting a Thanksgiving Day record on Thursday with $28 million.
While audience scores are not as strong as the first “Moana,” they are still positive with a 4.5/5 on PostTrak and an A- on CinemaScore. The movie has a clear runway for continued family turnout all the way until Dec. 20 with the release of Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” and Disney’s own “Mufasa.”
In a sterling second is “Wicked” with $32 million on Friday, giving it an estimated 5-day total of $118 million that now stands as the third highest ever Thanksgiving weekend result. Its Friday-Sunday total is estimated to reach $80 million, which is just a 28% drop from its $112.5 million opening.
“Wicked” will be heavily driven by domestic audiences, which comprise approximately 75% of the film’s $358 million estimated global gross through Sunday. But with the strongest audience scores of all the wide releases currently in theaters, it has all the tools to continue legging out strongly into the new year.
Paramount’s “Gladiator II” is coming in a respectable third with a $45 million 5-day total. Its estimated Fri.-Sun. count is $31.7 million, a solid 42% drop from its $55 million opening as it heads for a $112 million 10-day domestic total.
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