Disney’s Critically Acclaimed Moana Sails Into #1 At US Box Office to Become the Second Largest Thanksgiving Opening Ever

Ahead of its UK release on December 2nd, MOANA has successfully navigated its way into first place at the US box office, taking $81.1m over a five-day opening weekend. Moana is now the second largest Thanksgiving opener ever, just behind Frozen ($93m five-day) but tops Toy Story 2 ($80m five-day).

The sweeping feature film about an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people, has been getting rave reviews from critics and is also proving a big hit with cinema goers who have given the film a Cinemascore of ‘A’ in the US and a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 98%.

The diverse and dynamic team behind the film’s inspired music include Tony®-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (Broadway’s Pulitzer Prize-winning and multiple Tony-winning “Hamilton,” Tony-winning “In the Heights”), Grammy®-winning composer Mark Mancina (“Speed,” “Tarzan” “The Lion King”) and Opetaia Foa’i (founder and lead singer of the world music award-winning band Te Vaka).

Moana tops an outstanding year for Walt Disney Animation Studios, as the critically acclaimed Zootropolis debuted in March and went on to become one of the top animated films of all time with $1.023B. The two films continue Disney Animation’s streak of hits beginning with Tangled and including Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, and Big Hero 6. The average Rotten Tomatoes scores for these films is over 90% and their average global box office gross is over $800M.
Domestically Disney now has nine of the Top 10 Thanksgiving openings of all time.

“Between Moana and Zootopia/Zootropolis, it’s been a banner year for Disney Animation." - Empire

“Disney continues its winning streak with this big-hearted musical…” - Time Out London

“…plenty of unbelievable sights and indescribable feelings. Oh, and richly developed lead characters to boot." - Forbes

“…a musical adventure that’s a worthy addition alongside “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin,” - Variety

For centuries, the greatest sailors in the world masterfully navigated the vast Pacific, discovering the many islands of Oceania. But then, 3,000 years ago, their voyages stopped for a millennium – and no one knows exactly why. From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “Moana,” a sweeping, CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who is inspired to leave the safety and security of her island on a daring journey to save her people.

Inexplicably drawn to the ocean, Moana (voice of Auliʻi Cravalho) convinces the mighty demigod Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson) to join her mission, and he reluctantly helps her become a wayfinder like her ancestors who sailed before her. Together, they voyage across the open ocean on an action-packed adventure, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds, and along the way, Moana fulfills her quest and discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity.

Directed by the renowned filmmaking team of Ron Clements and John Musker (“The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “The Princess & the Frog”), produced by Osnat Shurer (“Lifted,” “One Man Band”), and featuring music by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa‘i, “Moana” sails into UK cinemas on 2nd December, 2016.

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MOANA SAILS INTO UK CINEMAS ON DECEMBER 2