"Moana" Tops Thanksgiving Weekend Box Office; Second Best Thanksgiving Opening Ever

"Moana" says "You're Welcome" to Disney as it topped the box office on it's opening weekend with an $81.1 million 5-day opening due to the Thanksgiving holiday. It was the second best Thanksgiving weekend opening, second only to Disney's hit film "Frozen" which made $93.6 million during it 5-day opening 3 years ago.

Additionally, the film took in $16.3 million overseas with a limited release internationally. The film builds on Disney's success this year, who has released 5 of the 10 year's highest grossing films, is the leader in terms of market share, and is poised to set a new record for annual grosses. Hits this year included: Zootopia, Captain America: Civil War, The Jungle Book, Finding Dory, Doctor Strange and now Moana. Disney still has one more huge hit that awaits the box office this year when "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" the first standalone film in the saga soars into theaters on December 16.

Disney's Distribution Chief Dave Hollis told Variety about Disney's success this year at the box office:

“We are working with the greatest brands and we’re doing big, broad storytelling that resonates domestically, but has the power to transcend borders and languages and cultures around the world."

Three thousand years ago, the greatest sailors in the world voyaged across the vast Pacific, discovering the many islands of Oceania. But then, for a millennium, their voyages stopped – and no one knows why.

From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “Moana,” a sweeping, CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people. During her journey, Moana (voice of Auli’i Cravalho) meets the once-mighty demigod Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson), who guides her in her quest to become a master wayfinder. Together, they sail across the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds, and along the way, Moana fulfills the ancient quest of her ancestors and discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity.