Moana Tops Box Office, Expected To Pull Doctor Strange-Like Numbers

Moana earned nearly $10 million during Thanksgiving night screenings yesterday, en route to a number that's roughly on par with the huge opening for Marvel's Doctor Strange earlier in the month.

The movie had opened on Wednesday with $15.7 million, the largest single-day opening for any Disney animated movie (topping Frozen's $15.1 million, although obviously just barely).

If Moana has a particularly strong weekend, it could go as high as $90 million, but currently projections at Deadline are that it will earn around $86 million -- about a million more than Doctor Strange managed in its opening frame. That film, bolstered by strong reviews and repeat viewings, will likely pass $200 million at the domestic box office this weekend, and has already surpassed a global take of $500 million.

Projections are for Moana to take the top spot, followed by last week's #1, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and then Doctor Strange. Moana should earn somewhere between $85 and $90 million for the five-day weekend ($60 million Fri-Sun), while Fantastic Beasts is projected for about $44 million for the 3-day weekend and $65 million for the 5-day; and Strange is looking at probably about $14 million/$19 million.

Rounding out the top five should be Arrival and Allied, a pair of live-action dramas with awards buzz.

Two other new releases, Bad Santa 2 and Rules Don't Apply, are scrapping with Trolls, Almost Christmas, The Edge of Seventeen, and Hacksaw Ridge for the bottom of the top ten spots. At present, Bad Santa 2 and Rules Don't Apply are sitting at #9 and #11 for the week, but they're expected to rise throughout the weekend as smaller releases don't typically open in smaller-market theaters on Wednesday, so for many locations tonight represents their opening night.