It’s been a wild ride for Moana 2, the Disney+ series-turned-feature length holiday release. The unassuming sequel has not only already broken a ton of records, but it has also now been nominated for the best Best Animated Film Golden Globe award. The Golden Globes honor both film and television and have been a media standard since 1944 and while not considered a prestigious as the Oscars, are typically used as an early indicator.
Moana 2 brings back Auli’i Cravalho as Moana and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as Maui on a new voyage that expands the world of the first movie by introducing new crew members that help build upon the story of the heart of tafiti. The movie was arguably too packed, as the movie was originally meant to be a series on Disney+ that would have had more time to delve into some of the new characters. Either way, what we ended up getting on the big screen didn’t disappoint.
Between the new story, the new characters, and the new hit songs like, ‘Beyond’, and ‘Can I get a Chee Hoo?’ this sequel delivers. It may not have reached the univalve critical acclaim of the first film, but to be fair not many sequels are even capable of doing that in any genre. The movie still did well enough to break records, get nominated for a golden globe, and potentially tee up a third Moana.
Moana 2 has already broken the record for the highest grossing holiday release (dethroning Frozen II), and has already broken $300 million domestically and $600 globally. The movie has broken over a half billion in ticket sales and is currently sitting amongst the highest grossing Disney animated films ever created. Not bad for something that was going to be a Disney+ show just a year ago.
The films budget was only $150 million, which means that if this movie isn’t already more profitable for Disney than the first, it certainly will be by the end of its theatrical run. Add in the soundtrack, merchandise, new theme park IP, etc. and Disney has just created multiple big ticket revenue streams from something that wasn’t even on the radar for a theatrical release. With that kind of success, I would be anticipating a Moana 3 sooner rather than later.
Have you seen Moana 2 yet? The movie is currently in theaters and will be until at least the new year to try and run up some of those holiday numbers along with Disney’s next big ticket release, Mufasa: The Lion King. The Golden Glove ceremony takes place on January 5th, 2025 and should hopefully blaze a trail for a Moana 2 Oscar nod. Make sure to let us know what you think on our social media!