Box Office: ‘Moana’ Tops Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend

Moana Dwayne Johnson and Auli'i Cravalho
Moana (voiced by Auli‘i Cravalho and Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) in ‘Moana’

Families were thankful for Moana over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, turning out to see the animated comedy in theaters to the tune of $81 million. Disney’s latest family-friendly animated film’s huge domestic opening earned it second place on the list of all-time best five-day Thanksgiving holiday weekends. Only Disney’s Frozen, which rang up $93 million over the 2013 Thanksgiving holiday, performed better.

Unfortunately, Thanksgiving wasn’t particularly bountiful for either Allied or Bad Santa 2. Allied pulled in slightly less than projected while Bad Santa 2 managed only half of what Bad Santa grossed over its first three days in theaters in 2003. However, it was Warren Beatty’s Howard Hughes film, Rules Don’t Apply, that was the weekend’s biggest disappointment. Rules Don’t Apply‘s $1.5 million three-day take ranks as the worst wide release opening of the year.


Box Office Top 10: 5-Day Thanksgiving Holiday

  1. Moana – $81,100,000
  2. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them – $65,760,000
  3. Doctor Strange – $18,850,000
  4. Allied – $18,000,000
  5. Arrival – $15,600,000
  6. Trolls – $14,275,000
  7. Almost Christmas – $9,522,000
  8. Bad Santa 2 – $9,031,000
  9. Hacksaw Ridge – $7,700,000
  10. The Edge of Seventeen – $4,216,000