The five-day Thanksgiving holiday period is an interesting time for Hollywood. With enough space to roll out a production with a healthy return, but not long enough to sustain a huge run that breaks records. Yet Disney's Moana might be changing that theory in quick time. The Disney animation dominated the North American market to bring in a whopping $88m over that time frame.
Tuesday night alone saw an impressive $2.6m with family friendly shows starting off at 7pm. The studio was hopefully of potentially hitting $75m overall on the back of a strong marketing campaign, hiring big name voiceover actors like Dwayne Johnson, Nicole Scherzinger and Jemaine Clement as well as the aftermath of a draining election campaign, but they have knocked this feature out of the park.
Special End Credits Scene
The Brad Pitt film Allied ($19m) alongside Billy Bob Thornton's Bad Santa 2 sequel ($12m) have made respectable gains this period, yet it is the feel-good flick about the adventures of an island goddess that has families flocking to the cinemas. But it isn't just what happens before the credits that provides the best rewards.
A small bonus scene at the end offers a few more laughs while there is an Easter egg embedded in one of the graphics to keep the young ones occupied. Clearly it is not just Marvel that are using this technique now.
Trolls Timed Their Run Well Not Competing With Moana
DreamWorks must be breathing a big sigh of relief as they watch Disney muscle in on the premier animation position. Their 2016 installment Trolls has brought in an impressive $262.4m despite hoping for more from their $125m budget. Starring Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Russell Brand, Gwen Stefani and The Late Late Show with James Corden host James Corden, the studio would have hoped to see more come through the gates.
However it was packaged, produced and reviewed, Disney simply did a better job with Moana which currently sits on a brilliant 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Once word spreads about a movie that scores that well with fans and critics, it is hard to ignore.
Sources: Variety and Business Insider Australia
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