Moana 2, Wicked: Part 1, and Gladiator II helped keep Black Friday movie ticket sales out of the red.
The three highly anticipated films pulled in an estimated $98.9 million dollars the day after Thanksgiving, according to Box Office Mojo.
Deadline reported it was the best ever for the day after Thanksgiving.
Wicked, which debuted at number one last weekend, earned some $32 million on November 29.
It was bested by the animated musical, Moana 2, which is the current box office queen, with $54.5 million in ticket sales.
Gladiator II finished the Friday trifecta with $12.4 million.
Moana 2, Wicked and Gladiator II helped keep Black Friday movie ticket sales out of the red
The most recent numbers combined with last weekend’s domestic box office results have made the Wicked the highest grossing movie ever based on a Broadway musical.
So far, the musical starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo has conjured up $214.3 million domestically and $264.3 million worldwide.
Grande celebrated the news with a re-post from Hollywood Avenue which reported, ‘Wicked is now the highest grossing musical adaptation of all time at the US box office! The record was previously held by Grease for over 46 years.’
Moana 2 scored both domestically and internationally.
The film starring the voices of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Auli’i Cravalho, has made some $140 million since it debuted in theaters across the United States on Wednesday.
Internationally the animated adventure scored another $52.7 million, for a global take of $192.7 million so far.
The large difference in ticket sales could be attributed to run time.
Wicked clocked out at two hours and 40 minutes, which Moana 2 lasts a family friend 100 minutes.
The three highly anticipated films pulled in an estimated $98.9 million dollars the day after Thanksgiving , according to Box Office Mojo; (L-R) Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande seen in Wicked: Part 1 (2024)
It was the best ever for the day after Thanksgiving; Paul Mescal in Gladiator II (2024)
Gladiator II, starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pescal and Denzel Washington, which debuted in a distant second place, is now in a distant third behind Moana 2 and Wicked domestically with a total of $92.9 million.
However, the action adventure has been a much bigger international hit, thus far, pulling in $165.5 internationally for a global take of $258.4 million.
Red One and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever rounded out the Friday top five with $4.8 million and $1.35 million.
The extended holiday weekend has certainly helped boost sluggish movie ticket sales.
Smaller films such as Conclave and A Real Pain were the beneficiaries of increased ticket sales on Friday up 109-percent and 96.7-percent respectively.
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