Moana 2has hit a milestone that cements it as a record-breaking hit. The movie is a sequel to Disney’s 2016 animated hit and follows the title character (Auli’i Cravalho) amassing a crew and going on a new adventure with the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson). The voice cast also includes Hualālai Chung, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House, and Alan Tudyk. TheMoana 2releasekicked off the day before U.S. Thanksgiving, climbing to a whopping $139.8 million domestic debut that weekend.
PerVariety,Moana 2hasalready reached a total of $882.5 million at the worldwide box office. In addition to passing the $850 million milestone, which is something that only 92 other movies have done in cinema history, the movie is expected to pass the $1 billion milestone worldwide in early 2025. This would make it the fourth Walt Disney Animation Studios movie to ever reach that staggering height, afterZootopia($1.02 billion),Frozen($1.29 billion), andFrozen II($1.45 billion).
What This Means For Moana 2
The Movie Is In Rarefied Air
Even without reaching $1 billion, the new Disney movie has already cemented itself as a bona fide smash hit. TheMoana 2budgetis reportedly $150 million, which most likely means thatits break-even point was somewhere around $375 million, a total that it has long since surged past. However, if it reaches $1 billion as expected, it will enter even more rarefied air.
Because theaters keep half of ticket sales and marketing costs aren’t factored into production budgets, movies generally have to earn at least two and a half times their price tags in order to break even.
Between its wide variety of brands, which now include 20th Century Studios, Marvel Studios, and Pixar, Disney has amassed a long list of billion-dollar releases ranging from the 2016 Pixar sequelFinding Dory($1.025 billion) to the 2024 smashInside Out 2($1.698 billion). They also have several $2 billion hits, namely the Lucasfilm outingStar Wars Ep. VII: The Force Awakens($2.056 billion) and the Marvel Cinematic Universe crossoversAvengers: Infinity War($2.048) andAvengers: Endgame($2.748 billion). Nevertheless,Moana 2would still only markthe company’s 28th billion-dollar hit overall.
Our Take On The Moana 2 Box Office
Its Success Should Not Be Taken For Granted
The fact that $1 billion is within the movie’s reach is even more astounding when considering the fact thatMoana 2was originally going to be a Disney+ show. The studio’s decision to change it to a theatrical feature has clearly paid massive dividends andcould potentially lead to a major shift in how they approach development on their exclusive streaming propertiesmoving forward, at least when they are related to some of Walt Disney Animation Studios' most important theatrical IP.
Moana 2
Cast
Moana 2 is the sequel to the 2016 animated film Moana. Directed by David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller, the film continues the journey of Moana as she embarks on new adventures, exploring the vast Pacific Ocean while encountering new characters and challenges along the way.
