‘Moana 2’ in No. 1 spot in box office’s best Black Friday in history

Disney did it again.

The animated musical adventure “Moana 2” took first place at the box office on Friday, its first day in theaters, with $54.5 million in revenue, according to The Numbers.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in Wicked
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in “Wicked,” which made history as the highest domestically grossing film based on a Broadway musical. ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

The Post called the sequel to the 2016 flick, where Dwayne Johnson reprises his character Maui, “wishy washy,” but said the “likable musical is nicely animated, has nice characters and a few nice songs.”

This holiday weekend, the movie could rake in as much as $220 million, making it the largest five-day debut in history, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It also became the best earning movie on Black Friday in history, as per Deadline.

“Wicked,” which was in the No. 1 spot last weekend, its opener, fell down a notch to second, with sales of $32 million.

By Sunday, the movie, which has become the highest grossing Broadway-musical based film ever at the domestic box office, is slated to earn a staggering $263 million.

The musical fantasy also became the third best earner for a movie on Black Friday after the second place earner, 2019’s “Frozen 2.”

Pedro Pascal, Paul Mescal in Gladiator II
“Gladiator II,” also in its second week in theaters, landed in third on Friday, with sales of $12.4 million. ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

In third place was “Gladiator II,” also in its second week in theaters, with sales of $12.4 million. It is expected to take in $45 million on this five-day weekend.

The combined sales of the top three films this Friday — “Moana 2,” “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” — made yesterday the biggest Black Friday earner in box office history, Yahoo reported.

The Christmas action comedy “Red One,” also starring Dwayne Johnson, fell down a notch to fourth, with a $4.84 million dollar take.

In fifth was “Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.,” with just over $918,000 in sales.

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