Moana scores a huge $81 million on its opening weekend

Disney’s latest animated adventure ‘Moana’ has scored a massive $81 million (£65 million) at the US box office over its opening weekend.

It’s one of the biggest ever Thanksgiving holiday hauls, being released on 3,875 screens, knocking Harry Potter spin-off ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them’ off the top spot.

Though some final figures are still to be tallied, it’s thought it will be the second biggest Disney movie opening ever.

‘Frozen’ retains the top spot with $93.6 million (£75 million), and the Polynesian adventure should slot in ahead of ‘Toy Story 2’, which opened to $80.1 million (£64 million) in 1999.

The movie has been bolstered by blazing reviews.

Currently, it sits with a 98% ‘fresh’ rating on reviews aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.

It’s also been praised for not relying on a ‘Prince Charming’ to drive the plot, which revolves around a young female ‘princess’, Moana, the daughter of the chief of a Polynesian tribe, who is chosen by the sea to bring a mystical relic to a goddess, and with the help of demigod Maui, save her people.

As well as having a screenplay from the writer of ‘Zootopia’, Jared Bush, it also features music from Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the Broadway smash ‘Hamilton’.

It has courted some controversy, however.

Maui playsuits were removed from sale by Disney after objections that they were appropriating sacred Polynesian body art for profit.

Some also objected to the depiction of Maui in the movie, which one New Zealand MP of Tongan heritage complained of being ‘half pig, half hippo’.

Starring newcomer Auli’i Cravalho as Moana, Dwayne Johnson as Maui, and Temuera Morrison as Chief Tui Waialiki, it’s out across the UK on December 2.

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