‘Moana 2’ Becomes Third Blockbuster of 2024 To Pass $1 Billion at Global Box Office Find help us

Having completed two months in theaters worldwide, Disney’s Moana 2 has now passed perhaps its final global box office milestone. And it’s the most meaningful one yet. This weekend, the animated blockbuster became the third film of 2024 to pass the coveted $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office. Moana 2 is only the ninth film in the post-pandemic era to pass this milestone, and is now on the verge of becoming one of the 10 highest-grossing animated films of all time. The movie has also significantly out-performed its predecessor, Moana, which made a little less than $700 million globally in 2016.

With nearly $445 million domestically and another $567 million from overseas markets, Moana 2‘s cumulative global haul now stands at $1.09 billion. It’s the third film of 2024 to have passed the billion-dollar mark worldwide, behind two other Disney releases: Inside Out 2 (nearly $1.7 billion globally) and Deadpool & Wolverine (over $1.3 billion worldwide). Disney was the only studio to generate more than $5 billion in cumulative global revenue last year, with these three films contributing the majority of the share. Mufasa: The Lion King, meanwhile, is approaching the $600 million milestone.

Moana 2 broke records during the Thanksgiving period, and proceeded to defy competition over the crowded Christmas period. It fended off films such as Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa, and is still hovering around the top five on the domestic charts. Moana 2 also helped course-correct Dwayne Johnson‘s career, after a string of high-profile misfires. Johnson had most recently headlined the Christmas-themed action-adventure film Red One, which failed to crack the $200 million mark worldwide on a reported budget of $250 million. Before that, he starred in the similarly underwhelming Black Adam and Jungle Cruise.

‘Moana 2’ Wasn’t As Acclaimed As the Original Film

Johnson will reprise his role as Maui in the upcoming live-action remake of the first Moana, which is currently in production. Moana 2 was originally conceived as a streaming series, but thanks to the growing popularity of the first film, Disney decided on a creative pivot. It paid off. Produced on a reported budget of $150 million, Moana 2 earned mixed reviews, and appears to have settled at a borderline “fresh” 61% approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Moana 2 will soon be released on PVOD platforms, but you can watch it in theaters until then. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.