Moana 2 Makes Waves at Thanksgiving Box Office Despite Lukewarm Reviews

Critics can’t sink Moana 2. Disney’s animated musical sailed into theaters Wednesday on a wave of tepid reviews, which haven’t impacted ticket sales: the movie’s $13.8 million in Tuesday previews set a record for Walt Disney Animation Studios and the second-best for an animated title behind Pixar’s Incredibles 2 ($18.5 million in summer 2018). That number also surpasses 2019’s Frozen II ($8.5 million Thursday) and gives Disney the biggest pre-Thanksgiving Tuesday (topping Wreck-It Ralph 2‘s $3.8 million from the same corridor in 2018).

Moana 2 previews came in ahead of Pixar releases Inside Out 2 ($13 million) and Toy Story 4 ($12 million), which both went on to cross the $1 billion milestone (with $1.69 billion and $1.07 billion, respectively). Not only is the eight-years-later Moana sequel heading for the best Thanksgiving opening with a record five-day between $125 million to $135 million and a global cume of $235 million through Sunday, but it could potentially outgross Inside Out 2 — the highest-grossing movie of the year. That’s despite competition from “Glicked” — Gladiator II and Wicked — and the lowest critical reception of the three major releases on Rotten Tomatoes.

RELATED: Moana 2 Reviews: What the Critics Are Saying

Moana 2 currently sits at 66% “fresh” on the Tomatometer compared to the “certified fresh” Gladiator II (71%) and Wicked (90%), but boasts an 88% on the new Popcornmeter (verified audience score). That’s down from an initial 70% Rotten Tomatoes score when the review embargo dropped on Tuesday, bringing Moana 2 below Disney Animation’s Strange World (72%).

On Metacritic, Moana 2 has an average score of 57 from critics (indicating “mixed or average” reviews) and 5.0 from users (“mixed or average” reception). Strange World received an average score of 65 (“generally favorable” reviews) from critics but just a 3.6 (“generally unfavorable”) from audiences.

Strange World bombed at the box office over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in 2022 with $18.6 million over five days (to compare, on par with Incredibles 2‘s preview number alone). Strange World finished its 72-day run in theaters with just $39 million domestically and $31.6 million internationally for a total of $70.6 million worldwide. Moana 2‘s first day is already estimated to be at $54 million when counting Tuesday previews.

It’s not only a significant rebound for Disney — which leads the global box office in 2024 — but Walt Disney Animation Studios, which had back-to-back flops with Strange World and last year’s 100th-anniversary movie Wish ($255 million worldwide).

Moana 2 will be the studio’s highest-grossing film since 2019’s Frozen 2 ($1.45 billion), surpassing the global totals of Disney Animation’s pandemic-era movies Raya and the Last Dragon ($130 million following a simultaneous release in theaters and Disney+) and Encanto ($261 million after a shorted run in theaters before streaming on Disney+).