BOX OFFICE: “Moana 2” breaks records, “Black Friday” is one for the books

“Moana 2” opened Wednesday, and a fall that has been STARVED for animated family film fare (save for the limping-along “Wild Robot”) was finally sated over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

It earned over $221 million over the five day “weekend,” according to Box Office Mojo.

The Polynesian epic Disney blockbuster sold $57 million in tickets Wed., another $28 million Thursday and almost $55 million on Friday alone. The three day weekend tally was $135 million.

That won’t tsunami “Wicked” out of the picture. “Part 1” of the filmed version of this wildly popular musical opened with $112 million over three days LAST weekend, and added another $32 million Friday. It will clear the $100 million mark over the Wed-Sunday period, $80 million just for the weekend alone.

“Gladiator II” completes the trifecta of films making this a record-setting Black Friday at the box office. It opened at $55, and will add another $45 million over five days by Sunday night. It may not dominate “good movies to see” conversations, but the Paramount sequel cleared the $80 million mark Thursday, added another $12.4 million and will be well on its way towards $200 million — having cleared $111 million mark by Sunday (a $30 million three day weekend).

I thought everybody was broke?

By the way, that makes “Gladiator II” the biggest hit on Denzel Washington’s Oscar-bedecked resume.

“Red One” is still in theaters, still pulling in a healthy $13 million and change. It won’t earn back its budget before heading to streaming, but the bleeding isn’t a “bleed out” that it might have been.

“Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is plugging along, on a pace to clear the $30 million mark sometime Saturday and hold its thin grasp in the Top Five with a $3. 275 million or so weekend.

The clumsily-titled-and-executed “Bonheoffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin” will take sixth place for the weekend — $2.4 million. It is trending towards a mid-teens take, all in, by the time it finishes its run.

“Venom: The Last Dance” surrendered a lot of its screens and is barely paying the electric bill at its remaining cinemas as it looks to finish out of the top five and finish its run having sold $140 million+ in tickets. That’s all found money, Sony, as this franchise was never all that.

The bottom half of the top ten is not carrying its weight at all. “A Real Pain” is straining to reach the $10 million mark, the equally-hyped sex worker drama “Anora” is running on fumes as it passes $12 million, and “Small Things Like These”the best grownup film in the top ten and starring an Oscar winner (Cillian Murphy), is barely registering.

Let the people with small children pack “Moana 2,” “Small Things,” “Heretic” and “A Real Pain” are everybody else’s best bets this weekend.

“Heretic” has almost — $179K short — cleared the $27 million mark by adding another $1 million this weekend (3 days, not five).

“The Wild Robot” will finish its run shortly and will have earned less than $150 million in the U.S. This is why studios make sequels, kids. Title/brand recognition is about as much attention as most people pay to movie as they’re released. It took this very entertaining children’s film two and a half months to earn less than “Moana 2” earned in three days.

It stands at $142 million in what should be its last weekend in the top ten.

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About Roger Moore

Movie Critic, formerly with McClatchy-Tribune News Service, Orlando Sentinel, published in Spin Magazine, The World and now published here, Orlando Magazine, Autoweek Magazine
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