The Domestic Box Office Poised for Biggest Thanksgiving Haul Since Pandemic
Disney’s “Moana 2” is set to hit theaters this week, expected to generate between $120 million and $150 million in box office receipts in the U.S. and Canada through Sunday. It will be joined by Universal’s “Wicked” and Paramount’s “Gladiator II”, both in their second week of domestic screenings. The five-day Thanksgiving weekend, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday, is expected to clear $200 million in ticket sales and could even become the second- or third-highest Thanksgiving period in cinematic history.
Box-office analysts believe the trio of films will anchor some of the biggest all-around box office results the holiday frame has ever seen. The last time the Thanksgiving holiday haul topped $200 million was in 2019, according to Comscore data. The current highest-grossing Thanksgiving weekend is 2018’s slate, which generated $315 million in ticket sales combined.
The success of the films could be a boon for the movie theater industry, which has struggled to replicate major releases combining for all-audience appeal in the post-pandemic era. Disney could use another animation win, as it has failed to live up to expectations with its recent string of releases. “Moana 2” should outperform these post-pandemic releases, given its arrival a year after the first film was named the top-streamed film aimed at kids and families, and the success of Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” over the summer.