Moana 2 shatters Thanksgiving holiday box office records despite lackluster reviews

Disney debuted to mediocre reviews, but as I predicted, none of it actually mattered. The highly anticipated sequel to 2016's animated hit is shattering box office records.

As reported by Variety, Moana 2 earned $28 million on Thanksgiving Day, a new record that surpassed the previous holiday champion Frozen 2 ($14.9M). The Disney film beat out Universal's Wicked, which scored the second-best Thanksgiving Day take ever for a movie with $16.9 million.

Moana 2 has now earned $85.5 million domestically and is on track to gross at least $175 million over the five-day holiday week. This would be a new box off record, overtaking 2019's Frozen 2 ($125 million) and 2013's Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($109M).

The movie has also been sailing into overseas markets where it currently has an international box office total of $24.1 million through two days in 39 markets. Added to the domestic total, the global running cume is now $109.6M.

It's a return to form for Disney which was once king of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend box office.

Set three years after the events of the first movie, Moana 2 reunites Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) and Maui (Dwayne Johnson) for a new voyage.

"After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced," the synopsis reads.

Moana 2's box office success is music to Disney's ears, especially following the mediocre reviews that came earlier this week. With 142 critic reviews counted, the film has stayed steady at around 65% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have praised the film's "stunning animation" and "colorful adventure" though they acknowledge the story isn't as inspiring or original as the first movie.

Average moviegoers seem to have a different opinion though, with Moana 2 boasting an 87% on the Popcornmeter.