The Walt Disney Company’s box office domination continued over the holiday weekend.
“Moana 2” topped $1 billion during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, becoming the studio’s third 2024 release to reach the coveted benchmark after Marvel Studios’ “Deadpool and Wolverine” and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2.” No other Hollywood studio had a film cross $1 billion last year.
“Moana 2” snared $442.8 million at the domestic box office and $567.1 million in international markets, the company posted over the weekend. It is the fourth film from the Walt Disney Animation arm to surpass $1 billion in ticket sales alongside “Frozen,” “Frozen II” and “Zootopia.”
This feat is another feather in the cap for Disney, which had struggled in the years after the pandemic to gain tractions with its animated releases. Much of the company’s difficulties stemmed, in part, from decisions to debut a handful of animated features directly on its streaming service Disney+. This trained parents to look for new content at home even after theatrical closures ended and films returned to cinemas.
“Inside Out 2” not only marked a return to form for Disney, but it helped jumpstart the overall domestic box office in June. It snared more than $650 million domestically and became the first film since Warner Bros′ ”Barbie” to top $1 billion at the global box office.
It also marked the first time a Pixar or Walt Disney Animation film generated more than $480 million at the global box office since 2019. “Inside Out 2″ ultimately became the highest-grossing film of 2024.
“Deadpool and Wolverine,” “Inside Out 2” and “Moana 2,” along with a handful of other theatrical releases, helped Disney reach more than $2.2 billion at the domestic box office last year, accounting for about 25% of the industry’s total haul, according to data from Comscore.
With “Moana 2” crossing the billion-dollar mark, Disney now has 32 billion-dollar movies — including three films it acquired when it bought Fox in 2019, according to the company. For context, there have only been 56 films that have topped $1 billion at the global box office, meaning Disney is responsible for nearly 60% of the highest-grossing films in cinematic history.