This weekend, it’s a box office battle between two titans: Wicked and Moana 2, but the Disney sequel’s runtime could give it an advantage.
Moana may not be one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, but it’s still one of Disney’s most iconic animated movies of the past 10 years.
The sequel (which was first developed as a Disney Plus series before being reworked into a theatrical release) is in cinemas now, bringing Moana and Maui back to the screen – and it even sets up Moana 3.
It’s set to be a big Thanksgiving weekend in theaters, with Moana 2 and Wicked vying for families’ tickets – but one film might have an edge.
How long is Moana 2?
Moana 2 is 100 minutes (1 hour 40 minutes) long. That’s seven minutes shorter than the original movie, but it’s still among Disney’s longer releases; it’s tied for the 14th longest Disney movie alongside Tangled.
Below, you can find the runtimes of Disney movies longer than Moana 2:
- Wreck-It Ralph: 102 minutes
- Frozen: 102 minutes
- Encanto: 102 minutes
- Big Hero 6: 102 minutes
- Frozen 2: 103 minutes
- Moana: 107 minutes
- Ray and the Last Dragon: 107 minutes
- Zootopia: 107 minutes
- Ralph Breaks the Internet: 112 minutes
- The Lion King (2019): 112 minutes
- Bedknobs and Broomsticks: 118 minutes
- Fantasia: 126 minutes
Moana 2’s runtime is much shorter than Wicked
At 100 minutes long, Moana 2 is over an hour shorter than the Wicked runtime (2 hours 41 minutes). That’s a big factor for parents taking their kids to the cinema (and those with small bladders).
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We’ve all been there: you’re sitting in the movie theater, you’ve already gone to the bathroom, but as the trailers are playing, you start to worry about needing to pee during the film. You jog to the toilet, do what needs to be done, and you return to your seat. An hour later, you inexplicably have to go again.
There’s also the reality of taking kids to the cinema: inevitably, they’ll get restless. It’s a big ask for a five-year-old to sit for the best part of three hours completely engrossed in a movie, so Wicked may be too long for some children.
Its runtime aside, there’s another factor I need to acknowledge: Wicked has been out for a week already, while Moana 2 has arrived in cinemas nationwide today (November 29), so ticket prices were never going to be neck-and-neck – but the sequel is already poised to exceed expectations.
Bear in mind that the first Moana made a total of $687 million worldwide. Moana 2 is estimated to make up to $175 million across its first five days in the US alone (which would make it the biggest Thanksgiving release of all time) and $420 million worldwide.
Meanwhile, Wicked’s box office isn’t slowing down – it may make as much as $100 million in its second weekend, which is still an impressive haul.
Make sure you check out our breakdown of Moana 2’s ending, whether or not Moana is a demigod, and find out what we know about Wicked: Part 2.
