rewrite this title ‘Moana 2’, ‘Wicked’ & ‘Gladiator II’ Driving Record Post Thanksgiving Frame Near $130M – Saturday AM Update

SATURDAY AM: What’s the trick to keeping the post Thanksgiving period alive? Great holdovers. One of the dullest box office periods historically of the year is not in 2024 with all films grossing $129M, the best this frame has ever seen. That surpasses the previous record back in 2018 when all movies totaled $120M. And that’s because this weekend is powered by Moana 2 ($50.8M, still a record for a No. 1 movie in this corridor), Wicked ($32.7M) and Gladiator II ($12.9M). It’s not like any major studio dared to launch a tentpole in this corridor, ala Warner Bros. back in 2003 with Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai ($24.2M). A24 decided to with the Rachel Zegler-led Y2K and nobody’s going at a $2.1M opening and a C- CinemaScore. While arthouse distribs like NEON and A24 have low thresholds for success, and this Kyle Mooney directed horror comedy cost under $15M, $2M isn’t anything to brag about, and it’s certainly not good for Zegler. The movie is on 2,108 theaters and if there was a time to go with this film, it was now as there won’t be any screens come Christmas with Mufasa and Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Doing double the amount of business than Y2K is Paramount’s Imax re-release of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar with $4.1M at 165 locations with a massive $24,8K theater average, arguably the best domestic re-release (non-awards related) start for the filmmaker. We often hear news about Nolan re-releases in Imax (i.e. Tenet), but then there’s not grosses reported. It pays to double down on Nolan re-releases, because clearly there’s some sort of business here.

How the large-format shakes out this weekend: PLFs are still being split by Moana 2 and Wicked and some for Gladiator II as well. Imax is all three with the addition of Interstellar, of course.

Vertical’s Jude Law 1970s crime thriller, The Order, is doing around $1M this weekend at 603 theaters with Briarcliff Entertainment’s Frank Grillo Werewolves seeing $1.2M at 1,351 sites.

MORE….

FRIDAY PM: For all the chatter in years past about people getting distracted by holiday stuff, if there’s one thing that’s on their list this weekend, it’s going to the movies.

Disney’s Moana 2 will see a second weekend of $55M-$60M, the most any No. 1 movie has seen during the historically ratcheted down post-Thanksgiving period. Again, anything over Frozen 2‘s post-Thanksgiving frame take of $35.1M back in 2019 is a record No. 1 take for this frame. This is after a second Friday that’s in the vicinity of $11M-$12M, which will get the sequel past the 2016’s original’s final stateside cume of $248.7M. Second frame is -57% to -60% from pic’s opening weekend of $139.7M.

Both Moana 2 and Wicked are expected to cross $300M this weekend, the latter sooner than the former. The highest grossing Broadway musical of all-time at the domestic box office will hit $300M sometime on Saturday while Moana 2 should cross by EOD Sunday. Moana 2 is booked at 4,200 theaters while Wicked is at 3,885 theaters.

The Jon M. Chu directed Ariana Grande-Cynthia Erivo Wicked is looking at a third Friday of $9.25M, for a third weekend of $31.7M, -61%. As we told you yesterday, Wicked won Thursday and Wednesday over Moana 2. Wicked‘s Thursday number this AM was $4.78M.

Third place goes to Paramount’s Gladiator II at 3,440 theaters with a third Friday of $3.45M at 3,450 locations, $12.3M third weekend, -60%, for a running total of $132.5M.

Making waves in fourth place is Prathyangira Cinemas’ Pushpa 2 – The Rule at 1,245 theaters. The movie, which included Wednesday previews, beat Moana 2 yesterday for second place with $4.5M, the latter settling at $4.2M. Outlook for the Indian action gangster cop sequel is a $5.6M 3-day with a $10.1M four-day run by EOD Sunday.

Fifth goes to the fourth weekend of Amazon MGM Studios’ Red One at 3,150 theaters which is shaping up for a $1.5M Friday and 3-day of $5.5M, -57%, for a running total of $84.2M.

A24’s Kyle Mooney directed, Rachel Zegler starring horror comedy Y2K is eyeing $1.1M today after $300K in previews last night for a $2M+ opening. Yikes, that’s low for the hipster cinema brand. The movie cost under $15M.

Don’t dismiss Paramount’s 10th anniversary re-release of Chistopher Nolan’s Interstellar which at 165 locations is putting up $1.6M today for a $4.77M 3-day; people, that’s a $28,9K theater average. The original Matthew McConaughey movie ended its domestic run at $188M.