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Credit: DisneyDespite its record-breaking history and pop culture significance, The Walt Disney Company’s Frozen (2013) is on track to be replaced by the House of Mouse.
Back in 2022, Encanto‘s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” replaced Frozen‘s “Let It Go” in the music charts. Two years later, the musical movie, famous for introducing sisters Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel) into the pop culture canon, is on track to lose another one of its titles.
On November 27, 2024, the day before Thanksgiving is celebrated across the United States, the House of Mouse will release one of its most highly anticipated movies: Moana 2 (2024).
While the run-up to Moana 2 has been short-lived, thanks to Disney announcing the feature film only in February, it has made a splash nonetheless. The trailer became the company’s most-watched ever across a 24-hour span, clocking in 178 million views.
And the excitement looks to be translating into a strong opening box office weekend. Forecasts from Quorum for Moana 2‘s Wednesday (November 27) through Sunday (December 1) period put the animated sequel on track to earn an impressive $100+ million, per Deadline.
If these box office projections come to fruition, the sequel’s big numbers will see Moana and Maui beat out Anna and Elsa for the biggest opening on a Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
“A $100M+ result (Quorum technically sees $105M-$115M) would rep the biggest opening for a movie opening on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, a record that currently belongs to Disney’s 2013 Frozen with $93.5M (Frozen 2 opened the Friday before Thanksgiving),” wrote Deadline.
According to Deadline’s report, Moana 2 is tracking particularly well with the under-25 female crowd, adding that men are “lagging on Moana 2.” That said, a similar story could have been said for Disney Pixar’s recent sequel, Inside Out 2 (2024), which scored a huge opening weekend in the States with $158 million.
Disney will hope Moana 2 will replicate the storming success of Kelsey Mann’s follow-up to Peter Docter’s 2015 hit, Inside Out. This movie went on to garner over $1.6 billion and became the highest-grossing animated movie on record, replacing Frozen II (2019).
A big win at the box office for Moana 2 will also cement that shifting from a TV show to a feature film was the right decision. Back in February, Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger revealed that Moana: The Series was being reframed into Moana 2.
This came after Disney confirmed that Moana (2016) was the most-streamed movie on any platform in 2023 and a franchise that they identified as a key component to the company’s future. If Moana 2 succeeds at the box office, which it no doubt will considering the opening projections, it will mark another win for the Mouse House following Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).
Watch the official trailer here:
On the transition from TV show to feature film, former Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee explained that it was a natural decision.
“We constantly screen [our projects], even in drawing [phase] with sketches,” Lee told Entertainment Weekly. “It was getting bigger and bigger and more epic, and we really wanted to see it on the big screen. It creatively evolved, and it felt like an organic thing.”
One half of Moana 2‘s co-directing duo, David Derrick Jr. and Dana Ledoux Miller, also weighed in on the massive production shift. “It became apparent very early on that this wanted to be on the big screen,” Derrick Jr. said. “It felt like a groundswell within the whole studio.”
Moana 2 stays true to the musical magic of the original, but this time, there’s a new creative team taking the helm.
Grammy-winning duo Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, known for their work on The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical, have stepped in to co-write the film’s songs alongside returning veterans Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa’i. Lin-Manuel Miranda, who lent his talents to the first film, will not be part of the songwriting crew this time around.
Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson return to their respective roles of Moana and Maui in the animated sequel, as do Temuera Morrison as Chief Tui, Nicole Scherzinger as Sina, and Rachel House as Gramma Tala.
New characters include Moana’s sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda), and members of Moana’s wayfaring crew, Kele (David Fane), Loto (Rose Matafeo), and Moni (Hualālai Chung).
Awhimai Fraser, Gerald Ramsey, and Alan Tudyk round out the cast as Matangi, Tautai Vasa, and Hei Hei, respectively.
Moana 2 opens exclusively in theaters on November 27, 2024.
Do you think Moana 2 will become one of Disney’s biggest movies to date? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!