UPDATE: “Moana 2” earned a whopping $44M on Wednesday. You’ll soon see the trades bundle up Wednesday and Thursday earnings into a single package —which is standard procedure — and report that it made $58M on its opening weekend. A $250M five-day total is not off the table for this one. Monstrous numbers.
“Wicked” continued its commercial success by racking up another $20M on Wednesday. It has so far made $165M domestic in just six days of release, and will likely hit $250M by Sunday. When all is said and done, it might end its run at over $450M. The second chapter has already been shoot — both films are said to have cost a combined $350M.
Meanwhile, “Gladiator II” earned $6M yesterday. Its domestic total currently stands at $73M. Its overseas receipts are helping it a lot as Ridley Scott’s epic is currently at $240M worldwide. Of course, the glaring issue here is that $250M budget, plus the $100M+ in P&A marketing that Paramount dished out on the film.
EARLIER: Disney’s “Moana 2” arrived in theaters last night. Banking on the 2016 original, the sequel opened with around $14M in previews. That’s slightly less than the $15M the first one made on its opening day. As mentioned yesterday, the middling reviews (67% on RT) won’t detract much from its box office intake — it’s practically sealed to be one of the top 3 highest grossers of 2024.
Marvel's "Ghost Rider" just hired one of the best cinematographers working today. Linus Sandgren will serve as DP on Shawn Levy's MCU flick, and, most notably, the project will be shot on film.