While beating Disney’s impressive $1.6 billion record is a big challenge, Moana 2 might actually have a chance thanks to an impressive stat of his own. Set to launch Thanksgiving week, Moana 2 is set to feature the return of Auliʻi Cravalho’s Moana and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Maui as they embark on a new adventure. To that end, the first film’s impressive success in a key area could give it the opportunity to become one of Disney’s most profitable films, and perhaps it could beat a major record that Disney has already broken in 2024.
Earlier this year, Disney and Pixar Inside Out 2 was released over the summer and had incredible box office numbers. Since its theatrical release in June From the inside out grossed more than $1.6 billion at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing animated film of all time. While it would certainly be difficult to surpass the success of Inside Out 2there are some signs that Moana 2 could do even betterespecially when considering an important statistic about the original film, released eight years ago in 2016.
Disney’s incredible streaming record for Moana proves the franchise’s popularity
Disney’s most streamed film of all time
According to a Bloomberg report that cited data from Nielsen, Moana is one of the most streamed films of all time. It has consistently achieved record streaming numbers since the launch of Disney+ in 2019, ranking in the top four most-streamed films on any streaming service every year since. In the same way, Moana remained in the streaming top 10 for most of 2024. According to the Bloomberg report, “Fans have watched nearly 80 billion minutes of Moana, the equivalent of viewing the image 748 million times.”
Without a doubt, this statistic is an impressive achievement for Disney and the first Moana film. Furthermore, it’s even more remarkable considering that the original Moana was released in 2016. Given its continued success eight years later in 2024, this potentially serves as a pretty strong indicator of how well Moana 2 can perform at the box office. While Moana 2 was originally developed as a series that would go directly to streaming on Disney+, the decision was made to pivot and make the project a film with a theatrical release, a decision that certainly looks like it will pay off big time.
Moana’s popularity on streaming is a good sign of Moana 2’s box office potential
Has a large fan base
The fact that Moana achieved and maintained such impressive engagement in streaming is huge. This speaks to the size of the original film’s large fan base, as well as its broad appeal to families, many of whom have likely already seen it. Moana several times in the years since its launch and the launch of Disney+ three years later in 2019. To that end, one can logically assume that the enthusiasm and interest in Moana 2 could become so big.
Considering how much replay value and continued engagement the first Moana accumulated over the course of streaming, one would expect the sequel to be able to similarly capture the same levels of engagement from the theatrical fanbase. To that end, some fans will likely see Moana 2 more than once as long as it is well received, which would naturally help its overall box office performance. That said, buying a ticket and going to the theater will always require more time, effort and investment from the consumer, rather than just turning on the Disney+ app and sitting on the couch at home.
There’s More Data That Suggests Moana 2 Could Beat Inside Out 2 at the Box Office
Moana ticket pre-sales are quite impressive
That said, another important statistic suggests that going to see Moana 2 in cinemas is in fact being seen as a worthwhile investment in the eyes of many consumers and their families before its release in cinemas. It was recently reported that Moana 2 sold more advance tickets on day one than any animated film in 2024. This means that Moana 2 even surpassed pre-ticket sales for Inside Out 2the highest-grossing animated film of all time and the eighth highest-grossing film overall, ahead of 2015 Jurassic World and right behind 2021 Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Likewise, AMC CEO Adam Aron also projected that Moana 2 will probably do better than Inside Out 2 at the box office, having stated that “well-informed people” informed him that Moana 2 will likely outperform Inside Out 2. Based on these pre-ticket sales, Moana 2 is currently projected to gross close to $135 million in its opening weekend. This is a good sign considering Inside Out 2 The opening weekend saw the film gross around $154.2 million.
Will Moana 2 really beat Inside Out 2 at the box office?
There’s at least a chance
When looking at the original Moana streaming data and pre-ticket sales figures for Moana 2Looks like the next sequel at least has a chance to top Inside Out 2. That being said, the first From the inside out grossed US$858.8 million worldwide, while the first Moana earned US$687.2 million. This could suggest that Pixar’s franchise could be the more popular of the two, at least when it comes to theatrical releases.
“Although the odds may still be against it, Moana 2 could certainly surprise people and overcome Inside Out 2…”
It is also important to note that both Gladiator II and Evil are scheduled to be released on November 22nd, just five days before Moana 2 makes its debut (creating a very busy release schedule). In comparison, Inside Out 2 it had much less blockbuster competition when it was released in June. That being said, Moana 2 has the unique advantage of being the latest release when kids are out of school and families are looking for things to do over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend. Although the odds may still be against it, Moana 2 could certainly surprise people and overcome Inside Out 2especially if it’s received as well as the first film.
Moana 2 is set to be released in theaters on November 27th.