‘Moana 2’ makes waves at global box office with $600 million

This image released by Disney shows the character Moana, voiced by Auli’i Cravalho, center, in a scene from “Moana 2.” (Disney via AP)

LOS ANGELES – “Moana 2” remains the most popular movie at North American theaters, grossing $52 million in its second weekend of release, according to industry estimates released Sunday.

Disney’s animated sequel to its 2016 hit about the daughter of a Polynesian village chief topped Universal Pictures’ “Wicked,” which made $34.85 million in its third weekend, Comscore reported.

The film’s domestic total is now $300 million, surpassing the original, and its global tally has soared to a staggering $600 million.

The amount set a record gross for a movie on the weekend following Thanksgiving weekend, unseating “Frozen II,” which earned $35.2 million in the same time frame in 2019.

“Gladiator II” claimed third place with $12.4 million Friday through Sunday in its third week.

“Red One,” the Christmas-themed action comedy starring The Rock, remained in fourth place with $7 million in its fourth week.

Fifth place went to the Indian Telugu-language action film “Pushpa: The Rule Part 2,” which opened with $4.8 million in theaters in the United States and Canada.

Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases were a re-release of Christopher Nolan’s 2014 film “Interstellar” ($4.4 million), “Solo Leveling – ReAwakening” ($2.4 million), “Y2K” ($2.1 million), “For King + Country’s A Drummer Boy Christmas” ($2 million) and “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” ($1.5 million).

Originally conceived as a Disney+ series, “Moana 2” has already broken into the top five highest grossing releases of the year. Its performance means Disney has three films in this year’s top five, including “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.” The studio also has another big movie on the way before the year ends: Barry Jenkins’ “Mufasa,” out Dec. 20.

“Wicked,” which added $34.9 million, has brought its domestic total to $320.5 million in three weeks. Globally, the musical adaptation released by Universal is at $455.6 million.

“These holdovers are going to create the momentum that’s going to put an $8.5 billion-plus box office year on the horizon,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. (With CNS report)