Box Office: ‘Moana 2’ Tops $400M as ‘Wicked’ Passes ‘Twisters’ Amid Decline in Middle Kingdom Megahits

Was the mid-2010s and early 2020s run of Chinese tentpoles earning sky-high grosses almost entirely in China a temporary circumstance?

In today’s lunchtime box office-focused mini-newsletter…

• Moana 2 earned far more on day six (with similar Sunday-to-Monday drops) than before Thanksgiving weekend-released Disney animated films.

• Wicked Part One is catching up in day-to-day grosses, having passed the domestic and worldwide cumes of Twisters and positioning itself as the FOMA event movie.

• Both films will soon catch up with ‘YOLO,’ China’s top-grossing 2024 film.

• China has released just three films which have topped $400 million in 2024.

• While excellent for YOLO, Successor and Pegasus 2, it follows a nearly decade-long run, save for 2020, when China offered semi-regular $500-$900 million grossers.