Moana 2 has reached a major milestone at the box office following its record-breaking opening.
The animated sequel has become the latest movie to cross the $1 billion threshold – the third film released in 2024 to do so.
Only 56 films have ever made $1 billion at the global box office, with 32 of them belonging to The Walt Disney Company. This stat includes all three of 2024's billion-dollar club – Deadpool & Wolverine, Inside Out 2 and Moana 2.
Related: UK film release dates
In December, all of Disney's films combined helped the studio to hit a $5 billion box-office milestone for the year.
Deadline notes that it's the first time a studio has managed to make that much money at the box office since 2019, before the Covid pandemic began.
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While Moana 2 made a lot of money, it opened to a mixed critical reception. Compared to the first film's 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, the sequel only has a middling 61% – having debuted with a critics' score of 69%.
Related: When will Moana 2 be available to watch on Disney+?
Speaking of the first Moana movie, a live-action remake is in the works, starring Dwayne Johnson alongside Catherine Laga'aia, who makes her movie debut as the title character.
Filming began a month ago in Hawaii with an aim to release the movie in 2026, and some photos from the set soon leaked online.
Johnson, who is reprising his role as Maui through the use of a bodysuit, said: "That's a suit that took a long time to put on.
"So, I'm so happy you said, 'You bulked up,' because when you say, 'You bulked up,' that means you couldn't tell. That is a couple of hours every day of transforming, putting that on."
Moana 2 is still showing in selected cinemas.
Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
