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These Family Movies Hold Strong at the Box Office

Photo by Krists Luhaers via Unsplash

These Family Movies Hold Strong at the Box Office

By Movieguide® Contributor

Family-friendly movies are still dominating the box office.

Disney sequels MOANA 2 and MUFASA: THE LION KING are sailing to major milestones and roaring with new records.

MOANA 2 released before Thanksgiving, bringing in $11.1 million overseas and $17.6 million globally. To date, the film has reached over $990 million globally, swimming toward the $1 billion mark.

MOANA 2 is an animated comical fantasy with funny, thrilling and touching moments. There are some scary looking creatures and situations, but they aren’t super intense. MOANA 2 has a strong morally uplifting, conservative premise of bringing disparate people together into one kingdom, a version of E Pluribus Unum, Out of Many One. However, this is mixed with some polytheistic content and scenes where the heroine interacts with her people’s ancestors.

READ MORE: MOANA 2 REVIEW

MUFASA: THE LION KING has also done very well.

Variety reported, “THE LION KING prequel led the pack again at the global box office over the weekend with $41 million, including $27.9 million from 52 international markets. After a rough start around Christmas, the photorealistic musical adventure about the future leader of Pride Lands has rebounded, with revenues at $540 million to date.”

MUFASA: THE LION KING is a beautifully animated adventure story with lots of jeopardy. The movie has great voice work by the entire cast and at least two highly memorable songs. Even better, MUFASA: THE LION KING has strong, inspiring ideas on what makes a great leader. For example, Mufasa’s love and compassion eventually helps unite the animals in a Promised Land. MUFASA also has a pro-family perspective that’s pro-adoption. That said, some of the action and fighting in MUFASA is too intense for children.

READ MORE: MUFASA: THE LION KING REVIEW

The major box office numbers for these two movies hopefully teach Disney and other major studios an important lesson: family-friendly movies always prevail, as Movieguide®’s data supports.

“Based on Movieguide®’s analysis of 170 theatrical movies released nationally [in 2023], ‘family-friendly movies reflecting strong Christian, redemptive, moral, biblical, traditional, or conservative principles and values usually do significantly better at the box office in the United States and Canada than those movies that don’t have such strong content,’” Movieguide® said.

READ MORE: THANKSGIVING BOX OFFICE PROVES THIS ABOUT FAMILY-FRIENDLY MOVIES


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