Ahead of its UK release on December 2nd, Disney’s Moana has successfully navigated its way into the top spot at the US box office.
The animated movie starring the vocal talents of Dwayne Johnson and Auli’i Cravalho took $81.1m over a five-day opening weekend, making Moana the second largest Thanksgiving opener ever, just behind Frozen ($93m five-day) but tops Toy Story 2 ($80m five-day).
The sweeping feature film about an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people, has been getting rave reviews from critics and is also proving a big hit with cinema goers.
Three thousand years ago, the greatest sailors in the world voyaged across the vast Pacific, discovering the many islands of Oceania. But then, for a millennium, their voyages stopped – and no one today knows why. Moana is a sweeping adventure about a spirited teenager who sails out on a daring mission to prove herself a master wayfinder, and fulfill her ancestors’ unfinished quest.
During her journey, Moana (voice of Auli’i Cravalho) meets the once-mighty demi-god Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson), and together, they traverse the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous fiery creatures and impossible odds.
Moana is an adventurous, tenacious and compassionate 16-year-old who sails out on a daring mission to save her people. Along the way, she discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity.
Maui is a demigod—half god, half mortal, all awesome. Charismatic and funny, he wields a magical fishhook that allows him to shapeshift into all kinds of animals and pull up islands from the sea.
The diverse and dynamic team behind the film’s inspired music include Tony-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (Broadway’s Pulitzer Prize-winning and multiple Tony-winning Hamilton, Tony-winning In the Heights), Grammy-winning composer Mark Mancina (Speed, Tarzan, The Lion King) and Opetaia Foa’i (founder and lead singer of the world music award-winning band Te Vaka).
Moana tops an outstanding year for Walt Disney Animation Studios, as the critically acclaimed Zootropolis debuted in March and went on to become one of the top animated films of all time with $1.023B. The two films continue Disney Animation’s streak of hits beginning with Tangled and including Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, and Big Hero 6. Their average global box office gross is over $800M.
Domestically Disney now has nine of the Top 10 Thanksgiving openings of all time.
Check out the Moana trailer below:
[brid video=”67216″ player=”531″ title=”Moana Official Trailer”]
