Disney’s “Moana 2” is off and racing at the box office. Despite taking place on a Tuesday night, preview screenings for the hotly anticipated sequel yielded a stunning $13.8 million, second only to the $18 million for Pixar’s “The Incredibles 2” in summer 2018 for the highest ever preview total for an animated film.
That, of course, means that this is the highest preview total ever for Walt Disney Animation, as “Moana 2” is expected to set a new 5-day Thanksgiving weekend record. The current record is held by “Frozen II” at $125 million.
Critics haven’t been as impressed with “Moana 2” as they were with its 2016 predecessor, giving it a 67% score on Rotten Tomatoes. But that won’t stop millions of families who made “Moana” into the most-watched film on Disney+ from showing up this weekend.
Meanwhile, Universal’s “Wicked” is showing all the signs of strong box office performance despite the major competition, earning an excellent $16.6 million on Tuesday. That brings the musical’s domestic total to $145 million as it is expected to earn at least $80 million over the 5-day holiday weekend.
Paramount’s “Gladiator II” is sitting in third, grossing $6.7 million on Tuesday with a running domestic total of $67.2 million.
