The Rock has made Hollywood history thanks to his latest releases.
Families around the world have flocked to cinemas in the past few days to watch Moana 2, which sees Dwayne Johnson return as demigod Maui. With the first animated film being a smash hit, the sequel was expected to perform well, especially in the United States as it was released over Thanksgiving week. However, while a strong showing was expected, the early box office numbers look to have exceeded all expectations.
As reported by Deadline, Moana 2 has already made $57.5 million on November 27th alone and is expected to surpass $200 million by the end of Thanksgiving weekend. Given the popularity of the franchise and the stellar opening week, it’s no surprise that Moana 2 is currently at the top of the box office charts. Additionally, the film has already achieved the accolade of highest-grossing Disney animated film and the third highest animated film of all time, only beaten by Pixar’s Incredibles 2 and Inside Out 2.
With Moana 2 as the number one movie, Rock has achieved the ultra-rare accomplishment of having 2 number one movies released in the same calendar month. Earlier in November, the Christmas action movie Red One also made it to the top of the charts. Now that Moana 2, Red One and Wicked are available to watch in theatres worldwide, many are predicting a very lucrative week for the film industry. Deadline adds that while others have come close, they believe that Dwayne Johnson is the only actor to have 2 hit movies in the same month:
From what we’ve culled, along with our chat with distribution sources, no other star has ever pulled this box office record off. There have been some close call instances where stars have opened two No. 1 films within a month of each other, but not the same calendar month, i.e. Chris Pratt with Super Mario Bros. Movie (April 5, 2023; $146.3M 3-day) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 5, 2023; $118.4M); Chris Hemsworth with Marvel’s The Avengers (May 4, 2012; $207.4M) and Snow White and the Huntsman (June 1, 2012; $56.2M) and Tom Hanks with Toy Story 2 (Nov. 26, 1999; $57.3M 3-day) and Green Mile (ahhh No. 2 on Dec. 10, 1999 with $18M).
When Will The Rock Return To WWE?
After confronting Cody Rhodes on the Raw after WrestleMania 40, fans are aware that it is only a matter of time before The Final Boss is back in WWE regularly to begin the build to his WrestleMania 41 clash against Cody Rhodes. The last time The Rock appeared in WWE was at Bad Blood, which saw the Hollywood star stare down Rhodes and Roman Reigns in the closing moments of the show.
Featured image: WWE
