Arizona Tribune - 'Moana 2' makes waves in 2nd week atop N.America box office

In the new installment of the Pixar hit, the title character, voiced by Auli'i Cravalho, teams up with an unlikely crew and travels the far seas of Oceania to break the curse of an evil god who sank a mystical island.

She gets help from a once-mighty demigod called Maui, who is voiced by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

The film took in $52.0 million over the weekend, a downturn from its debut over the long Thanksgiving holiday when it brought in a whopping $225 million mega haul, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

Universal's "Wicked: Part I," the latest offshoot of the classic "Wizard of Oz," raked in $34.9 million in its third weekend in theaters.

In third place the other hotly awaited holiday season release, Paramount's "Gladiator II," earned $12.5 million.

Remaining in fourth place for a second week in a row was the Christmas comedy "Red One" from Amazon and MGM, earning $7.0 million in revenue.

The film features Johnson as a North Pole security officer trying to find a kidnapped Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) on Christmas Eve.

In fifth place was Indian action flick "Pushpa 2 – The Rule," chalking up $5.0 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"Interstellar: 10th Anniversary" ($4.4 million)

"Solo leveling - ReAwakening" ($2.4 million)

"Y2K" ($2.1 million)

"For KING + COUNTRY's A Drummer Boy Christmas LIVE" ($2.1 million)

"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" ($1.5 million)

P.A.Mendoza--AT