Moana 2 has just crossed another global box office milestone, making it only the fifth movie this year to do so. After the massive streaming success of the first movie on Disney+, the sequel, directed by David G. Derrick Jr, Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller, follows Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) as she embarks on a new adventure to the far-reaches of Oceania following a call from her ancestors. Though Moana 2 reviews haven’t been as positive as those for the original, the movie has been a major box office success.

Box office data from TheNumbers now reveals that Moana 2‘s worldwide box office total now sits at $601 million, comprising $301 million domestic and $300 million internationally. This makes it only the fifth movie this year to cross the $600 million mark behind Dune: Part Two, Despicable Me 4, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Inside Out 2. Notably, Disney titles comprise three of the five highest-grossing movies of the year. Check out the top five chart below:

2024 Worldwide Box Office Top 5

Rank
Movie
Worldwide Box Office

1
Inside Out 2
$1.698B

2
Deadpool & Wolverine
$1.338B

3
Despicable Me 4
$966M

4

5
Moana 2
$601M

What Moana 2’s Success Means For The Franchise

The Future Is Bright For Moana

Moana 2‘s budget is estimated to be around $150 million, meaning it was likely looking at a break-even point of between $300 million and $375 million. Clearly, the film, after only two weeks in theaters, is already a very profitable venture for Disney. This success bodes well for the franchise’s future and the possibility of a Moana 3, though one hasn’t yet been officially announced.

What is confirmed, however, is a live-action Moana remake, and that’s expected to hit theaters in 2026. It’s not clear what the budget is for the live-action remake, but it’s probably more than $150 million. Despite this, the film, which features Dwayne Johnson playing the live-action Maui, now seems poised to also be a major success, with the audience demand for Moana content clearly quite high.

Our Take On Moana 2’s New Box Office Milestone

How High Will The Sequel Climb?

Moana 2 might be in fifth place now, but it’s now essentially guaranteed that the movie will beat Dune: Part Two in the coming weeks. It will also likely beat Despicable Me 4 and join the $1 billion club. Whether it will beat Deadpool & Wolverine remains to be seen, but the holiday season, when kids are out of school, will surely give the Moana sequel a major boost as the end of December approaches.

One negative to Inside Out 2 and Moana 2‘s success is that these movies are both sequels. Their domination at the box office is a clear signal for Disney to focus more on franchises and IP rather than original stories. Moana 2‘s success, though, does signal that this is what audiences want.
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