MW 'Moana 2' tops holiday box office, but in many ways it was a 'MoGlicked' weekend

By Charles Passy

'Moana 2' makes a $221 million splash, but moviegoers continue to buy tickets for 'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' in a box-office weekend mashup to rival 'Barbenheimer'

"Moana 2," the follow-up to the successful Disney $(DIS)$ animated movie, dominated the holiday weekend box office, raking in $221 million in domestic ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo, setting a record for a Thanksgiving-timed release.

But in many ways, the box-office story was about something much bigger. Call it the "MoGlicked" phenomenon.

That's our playful mashup term for the three movies that commanded attention over the past few days. Meaning not just "Moana 2," but also the so-called "Glicked" pictures - "Gladiator II" and "Wicked" - that debuted the week prior in the U.S. and continued to draw audiences over the Thanksgiving stretch.

"Wicked," a Universal Pictures $(CMCSA)$ release based on the Broadway musical, added another $117.5 million to its box-office tally over the five-day weekend period, bringing its domestic total to $262 million. "Gladiator II," a Paramount $(PARA)$ picture, took in $44 million over the holiday period, bringing its domestic total to $111 million.

In other words, while the $221 million for "Moana 2" is plenty impressive, what made the weekend truly significant - and what drove the box office to an overall Thanksgiving weekend record of $420 million, according to industry tracker Comscore $(SCOR)$ - is clearly that $161.5 contribution from the "Glicked" releases.

Indeed, industry executives who spoke with MarketWatch before the holiday weekend predicted the holiday period was going to be about more than one high-profile picture. And key to that was maintaining the "Glicked" momentum.

"We're still going to be promoting those movies," said Mike Bowers, president and chief executive of Harkins Theatres, a theater chain with 32 locations, in reference to "Wicked" and "Gladiator II."

Of course, this was perhaps to be expected at a point when Hollywood is back to where release calendars are getting full, and more than one high-profile (or "tentpole") movie can dominate the box office at a single time. This all comes after the lean years of the pandemic era, which was followed by the labor strikes (the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA) that kept release schedules fairly light.

And this is all boosted by the buzz generated by memes that turn two (or potentially more) releases into an "event." "Glicked" and now "MoGlicked" could be seen as the latest examples, but who can forget the fuss over a certain 2023 moviegoing phenomenon known as "Barbenheimer" that had folks rushing to see "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" - in some cases on the same day?

By many accounts, both the "Barbenheimer" and "Glicked" memes were generated by moviegoers themselves, not the studios or theater owners, though their origins remain murky.

"No one really knows," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with Comscore (SCOR).

As much as such viral fanfare might benefit the studios, they are generally hesitant to cross-promote each other's films, industry experts note. It would be like the New York Yankees hawking tickets for a New York Mets game.

As for the theater owners, they told MarketWatch they're not necessarily going to come up with the memes on their own - they'd rather let such things emerge organically - but they're certainly going to capitalize on them once they see the moviegoing public talking them up.

Indeed, AMC $(AMC)$ CEO Adam Aron referenced the "Glicked" meme in a recent post on X, celebrating the box-office success of the past weekend.

That said, experts remain somewhat skeptical as to whether "Glicked" had the same effect as "Barbenheimer" in getting moviegoers to see both pictures, especially as a single-day event. Rather, the meme may have simply created excitement for the moviegoing public in general.

Either way, Alicia Reese, an analyst with Wedbush Securities who tracks the film industry, called it "this beautiful phenomenon that gets people to do something wonderful, which is to go to the movies."

Brian Schultz, CEO of Look Cinemas, a premium operator with theaters in several states, echoed those sentiments.

Memes like "Glicked" and "Barbenheimer" "eventize the moviegoing experience," he said.

In any case, the industry certainly needs people to fill theater seats. Domestic box-office numbers are still far below their pre-pandemic mark, according to Box Office Mojo. In 2018, the tally hit an all-time high of $11.9 billion; in 2023, it totaled $8.9 billion.

That leaves open the question: Will we see more "Glicked" or "MoGlicked" events in the future?

Certainly, the 2025 calendar will be filled with many tentpole pictures, from a new "Mission: Impossible" movie to a new Superman one, and there's a good chance one or two weekends will see a couple of movies with mashup potential.

But Michael O'Leary, CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners, an industry trade group, said the meme idea can't be forced. "It has to be authentic," he said.

Others in the industry argue the films have to match up in a certain way - that is, they can't be too similar, but they can't be too wildly different, either. (Not that that stopped some from jokingly envisioning a "Saw Patrol" mashup, combining the horror flick "Saw X" and the kiddie film "PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie," last year.)

Daniel Loria, editorial director at Boxoffice Pro, an industry trade publication, said the meme thing may be grabbing headlines, but it really just means people are finding their way back to seeing films in theaters again. We're simply coming up with fancy ways to describe that.

"We used to call this 'moviegoing,'" he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

-Charles Passy

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 01, 2024 16:32 ET (21:32 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.