Weekend Box Office: Moana 2 Continues to Cruise

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The box office has one last month to have its best year since before the pandemic. After all the Chicken Little pieces about streaming shutting down theaters and a strike-shuttered schedule, the fact that it’s even a possibility is really quite something. Though it is still an uphill battle, getting close is still more than a victory that could bode well for 2025. It will take some record-breaking numbers to achieve it, but between families and Broadway fans, we’ll have something to watch, even with little besides holdovers in this post-Thanksgiving weekend.

**King of the Crop: Moana 2 Continues to Cruise**

The first week of December often arrives with a sell-off of sorts from theaters. Moana 2 certainly was not going anywhere this weekend at the top of the heap, but not without a 62.9% drop-off down to $52 million. Yes, “only” $52 million, which is still $14 million more than the highest opener ever in this weekend (2001’s Ocean’s Eleven – $38.1 million). In 12 days of release, Moana 2 has grossed $300 million, the 28th best ever behind Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($302.7 million) and ahead of Frozen II ($297.7 million). Moana 2 blew away all past Thanksgiving openings and continues to do so, as it bested the early December grosses of Frozen II ($35.1 million) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($26.1 million), though both of those were in their third weekends.

So while still early, there are signs that Moana 2 could fall faster than some are anticipating. Projections out there suggesting over a half billion could be overstated, once it runs into the wall of Mufasa: The Lion King and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in two weeks. Though the calendar falls in their favor, the Frozen and Hunger Games sequels are not that far behind Moana 2’s current numbers, and while $400 million is very much in the cards, the next big milestone was not achieved by either of those other films. A drop next week below $35 million could see Frozen II inching back to overtake Moana 2. Not that any of that entirely matters to its bottom line, as it has already crossed the half-billion mark globally and then some ($600 million to date) to make this a huge hit for Disney.

**The Top 10 and Beyond: Wicked and Gladiator II Hold Strong, Red One Keeps Tumbling**

On the other hand, there is a case for another leapfrog to occur. Moana 2 already did it once to Wicked on the global side, but Wicked may have a chance to return the favor on the domestic side. Jon M. Chu’s musical adaptation had a head start and continues to lead its competition by $20 million. But that weekend gap tightened as well, from over $58 million over the holiday to just $18 million this weekend. Wicked made $34.8 million in its third weekend, the 37th best ever and the fourth best ever for a November opening behind Frozen II ($35.1 million), Skyfall ($35.5 million), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, whose third weekend of $45.5 million was over Thanksgiving. This film is also behind the numbers of the Frozen and Hunger Games sequels by about $15-19 million, though it certainly blasted Catching Fire’s $26.1 million third weekend to start December. Right now, $450-475 million seems to be in the cards for Wicked, though it may actually have better odds (however slim) for a run at $500 million domestic than Moana 2. Worldwide it currently stands at $455 million.

Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II needs to hit the half-billion mark to recoup its production costs as well. It added $12.4 million to its domestic total, bringing it to $132.7 million. Let’s compare that to a different Hunger Games film – The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – which had a $14.1 million third frame. Gladiator II has a little over a $12 million lead on that film’s 17-day pace, suggesting it could still indeed end up in the $175 million range, but its drops would have to even out. Otherwise it will be in the $160-170 million range. Worldwide it stands at $360 million and that domestic pace alone will get it over $400 million, but can it make up the difference internationally to keep Ridley out of the red once again?

A film in far bigger trouble (and there is no escaping it at this point) is Amazon/MGM’s Red One. The $250 million production made $7 million in its fourth weekend and now has a domestic total of just $85.7 million and $165 million worldwide. It’s only saving grace now is to clock itself over the $100 million domestic line to avoid being part of that exclusive budget-to-gross list. But any way you slice it, this is the disaster of the year. More than twice the cost of Megalopolis, two-and-a-half times that of Horizon, and a final gross possibly lower than Joker: Folie a Deux; there is no sugarcoating this the way it was desperately attempted with Black Adam.

Kyle Mooney’s directorial debut, Y2K (from A24), made just $2.1 million this weekend. The horror-comedy, which premiered at SXSW in March, was met with soft mixed reviews then, only to take a turn towards the Rotten with critics who saw it later. It earned just barely a $1,000 per-theater average, which could still dip once final numbers come out on Monday. Fellow former SNL cast member Dan Aykroyd had his debut behind the camera, Nothing But Trouble, open to $3.9 million in February 1991. Bill Murray’s co-directing effort, Quick Change, started with $4.7 million in July 1990. Eddie Murphy’s Harlem Nights started with $16 million in November 1989. Other cast members like Ben Stiller, Christopher Guest, Billy Crystal, and Chris Rock have directed multiple features.

Besting Mooney’s film was the action sequel, Pushpa: The Rule – Part 2, which had a great opening with $4.5 million on Thursday, including early shows on Wednesday. That carried over to the weekend, where it grossed an additional $5.5 million for a cool $10 million to date. Paramount re-released Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, which also had quite the launch into 165 IMAX theaters for its 10th Anniversary. The fans showed up to add another $4.4 million into its pockets for a per-theater average of $26,818.

Rounding out the top 10, anime fans also saw Crunchyroll’s Solo Leveling -ReAwakening- in 846 theaters and provided $2.4 million in receipts. For King + Country’s A Drummer Boy Christmas Live made $2.06 million over the weekend and $2.62 million since being available on Thursday. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever made $1.5 million to bring its total to $34.4 million. The film is within $700,000 of becoming Lionsgate’s top-grossing film of 2024.

Outside of the top 10, Steven C. Miller’s Werewolves was put into 1,351 theaters by Briarcliff, and it grossed $1.1 million. Laufey’s A Night at the Symphony: Hollywood Bowl was in 406 theaters and made $845,000. RM: Right People, Wrong Place, a documentary about the creation of BTS member RM’s sophomore solo album, made $598,000 in 594 theaters. Sideshow/Janus’ release of Flow, the wordless animated animal adventure, made $528,000 in 375 theaters, elevating its total to $633,000. Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of William S. Burrough’s Queer made $406,000 in 47 theaters. The A24 release has made $867,000 in 12 days of release. Bleecker Street’s release of The Return with Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche made just $354,000 in 629 theaters. By comparison, the Trailer Park Boys film Standing on the Shoulders of Kitties made $210,000 in 285 theaters.

Finally, in a weird turn, Searchlight released Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch with Amy Adams in 82 theaters and chose not to report grosses.

**On the Vine: Kraven the Hunter and The War of the Rohirrim Aim for Some of That Moana/Wicked Cash**

There are two films opening next week hoping to break up the Moana/Wicked monopoly on audiences right now, though they may take a bigger chunk out of Gladiator II, if any at all. Sony releases the long-delayed Kraven the Hunter with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and original Gladiator Russell Crowe. Will this be more Venom, Morbius, or Madame Web? Warner Bros. appears to have dwindling fate in their animated The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, failing to qualify it for awards in some circles and releasing it in just 2,500 theaters next week. Overseas the film made just $2 million this weekend. In limited release we have Nickel Boys, directed by this year’s New York Film Critics winner RaMell Ross, hoping to draw further attention to its awards run. There is also September 5, about ABC Sports attempting to cover the hostage crisis at the 1972 Olympics.

Full List of Box Office Results: December 6-8, 2024

62% 87% Moana 2 (2024) – $52 million ($300 million total)
88% 96% Wicked (2024) – $34.8 million ($320.5 Million Total)
72% 82% Gladiator II (2024) – $12.4 million ($132.7 Million Total)
31% 90% Red One (2024) – $7 million ($85.7 Million Total)
- - 78% Pushpa: The Rule - Part 2 (2024) – $5.2 million ($9.6 Million Total)
73% 86% Interstellar (2014) – $4.4 million ($4.4 Million Total)
- - 95% Solo Leveling -ReAwakening- (2024) – $2.4 million ($2.4 Million Total)
45% 52% Y2K (2024) – $2.11 million ($2.11 Million Total)
- - 98% for KING + COUNTRY's A Drummer Boy Christmas LIVE (2024) – $2.1 million ($2.6 Million Total)
91% 97% The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2024) – $1.5 million ($34.4 Million Total)