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11/29-12/1: MOANA 2, WICKED & GLADIATOR II Host Moviegoers at a Record-Setting Th...

DICK WALSH's Industry Update

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DICK WALSH's Industry Update

‘Wicked’ Audience Etiquette: Is It OK to Sing Along with Movie Musicals?

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11/29 - 12/1

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Laufey’s A Night at the Symphony: Hollywood Bowl

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A trio of blockbusters — “Moana 2,” “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” — are fueling a record-breaking Thanksgiving bounty. Overall domestic box office receipts between Wednesday and Sunday amounted to $420 million, the biggest Thanksgiving haul in history. It obliterated the previous benchmark of $315 million, set by 2018’s slate of “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” and “Creed II.” Since the pandemic, though, Turkey Day has been all famine and no feast at the box office. The holiday hasn’t topped $200 million since 2019 and plummeted in 2023 to a record low of just $125 million across all films, including Disney’s “Wish,” “Hunger Games” prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” and Ridley Scott’s historical drama “Napoleon.”...

Disney’s “Moana 2” sailed to $389 million at the global box office, including a mighty $163.8 million internationally. Monday’s final tally was above Sunday’s estimate of $386 million globally. Ticket sales for the animated family film stand as the second-biggest worldwide opening of the year after Disney’s billion-dollar Marvel behemoth “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($438 million). The sequel to 2016’s musical hit “Moana” got a jumpstart on the weekend by landing in North American theaters on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. The follow-up film generated $300.8 million globally over the traditional weekend....

Disney’s “Moana 2” cemented a new Thanksgiving box office record with $225 million over the five-day holiday frame, obliterating the previous high-water marks set by 2019’s “Frozen II” ($125 million) and 2013’s “Hunger Games: Catching Fire” ($109 million). It also stands as the biggest five-day debut in history, overtaking Universal’s 2023 behemoth “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($205.6 million). The film’s three-day tally of $139.7 million registers as the best start for Walt Disney Animation ahead of “Frozen II” ($130.2 million the weekend prior to Thanksgiving). Ticket sales for the “Moana” sequel were higher than Sunday’s estimates of $135.5 million over the traditional weekend $221 million over the five-days and far above early projections of $135 million to $145 million....

Musicals aren’t the most successful genre at the box office (see: “Cats,” “Dear Evan Hansen” and “Joker: Folie à Deux”). But song-and-dance films may be enjoying — as Glinda sings — a newfound popularity with “Wicked,” Universal’s adaptation of Act One of the beloved Broadway show. The film collected $114 million in North America and an additional $50.2 million internationally, bringing its global tally to $165 million over the weekend. It’s a huge win for movie theaters (ticket sales have been stubbornly behind 2023 and pre-pandemic times) and Universal (since the studio has to sell “Wicked: Part Two,” chronicling the musical’s second act, to audiences in 2025). Each installment cost $150 million to produce, not including its inescapable pink-and-green marketing campaign. So “Wicked” needs to resonate at the global box office through Thanksgiving of next year to justify these mega price tags. Then “thank goodness,” as Glinda also sings in the show, that critical reviews and audience sentiment have been euphoric....

Headlines

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