Moana 2 Sails & Surfs Big Waves To Second Biggest Opening Weekend Of 2024

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Moana 2 has garnered the second biggest box office opening weekend of 2024 with a whopping US$386 million worldwide. The biggest box office opening weekend of 2024 remains Deadpool & Wolverine, which scored US$444 million.

It’s also the highest opening for an animated film worldwide ever in history.

In the US, Moana 2 also had the highest Thanksgiving opening weekend box office, beating Frozen’s US$94 million total in 2014. It was also the highest 5-day Thanksgiving all-time box office, beating Frozen 2’s second weekend of US$125 million in 2019.

Alan Bergman, co-chairman, Disney Entertainment, said (via press release):

“Moana 2 has far surpassed our high expectations this weekend and is a testament to the phenomenon that Moana has become. We’re fortunate to have an incredibly talented and hard-working creative team at Disney Animation who brought this new adventure to life, alongside our wonderful stars Auli‘i and Dwayne and great new music. This is a moment to celebrate, and we’re thankful to all the moviegoers and fans who’ve helped make this a record-breaking debut.”

Moana 2 reunites Moana (voice of Cravalho) and Maui (voice of Johnson) three years later for an expansive new voyage alongside a crew of unlikely seafarers. After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.

Directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller, and produced by Christina Chen and Yvett Merino, “Moana 2” features music by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Opetaia Foa‘i, and Mark Mancina. Jared Bush and Miller are writing the film, which is executive produced by Jennifer Lee, Bush and Johnson.

The film also features returning stars Rachel House (Moana’s Grandma, Tala), Temuera Morrison (Moana’s father, Chief Tui) and Nicole Scherzinger (Moana’s mother, Sina), as well as the voices of Hualalai Chung, David Fane and Rose Matafeo as Moana’s new crew members Moni, Kele and Loto, respectively. Awhimai Fraser voices the mysterious new character Matangi; Gerald Ramsey plays Moana’s ancestor, Tautai Vasa; and Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda lends her voice to Moana’s adoring and adorable little sister, Simea.

Disney’s Moana 2 is now showing in Malaysian cinemas and it’s one of the year’s best-animated movies (check out our non-spoiler glowing review here).

If you’ve watched Moana 2, head on over here for our breakdown of the ending and post-credits scene.