The television spinoff of one of the highest-grossing movies of 2024 has emerged as a streaming success. Disney had a fairly solid showing at the box office in 2024. This is particularly evident with “Moana 2”, which hit theaters during Thanksgiving week. The sequel had an impressive opening, grossing $139.7 million, and has now accumulated over $882 million worldwide. Even in its fifth weekend in theaters, “Moana 2” managed to secure a spot in the domestic box office’s top 5, surpassing newer releases like “A Complete Unknown” and “Babygirl”.
Simultaneously, Disney also had another film in the domestic box office top 5 this weekend: “Mufasa: The Lion King”. This movie, a follow-up to the 2019 live-action remake of “The Lion King”, delves into the story of the titular king while also incorporating tales of Simba and Nala raising their daughter. It added $37.1 million to its domestic box office tally this weekend, positioning it just behind “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” in the second slot. Now, a project set in the universe of yet another 2024 Disney hit is making waves on streaming.
“Dream Productions” is thriving on Disney+. It’s a TV miniseries spinoff of “Inside Out”. Taking place in the same universe as the Pixar movie and its successful sequel released earlier this year, the show follows the story of a director who teams up with a daydream director to create a tween-dream hit for Riley. The series features a talented leading voice cast including Paula Pell, Richard Ayoade, Kensington Tallman, Maya Rudolph, Ally Maki, Ace Gibson, Amy Poehler, and Lewis Black. Comprising four episodes, “Dream Productions” has found significant success on Disney+.
The series is currently ranked fifth on the platform’s daily top 10 list and even reached the number one spot on December 29, 2024. This accomplishment has established “Dream Productions” as one of the most successful debuts for an original animated series in Disney+ history.
“Dream Productions'” success could prompt changes at Disney. Given that “Inside Out 2” is the highest-grossing movie of 2024 and is likely to retain that title as the year concludes, the series’ strong performance isn’t entirely unexpected. However, its success might lead Disney to rethink its creative approach. The studio has typically focused more on animated films, but “Dream Productions” demonstrates that animated shows on Disney+ can also achieve great popularity. This could encourage the studio to invest more in developing original animated shows in the future.
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