The Billboard Family Hits of the Week compiles what’s new and worth your family’s time in music, movies, TV, books, games and more. Forget the mind-numbing scrolling and searching “what to watch for family movie night” … again. The best in family entertainment each week is all in one place, in this handy guide. Isn’t it satisfying to cross something off your list?
While you’re spending time with family this holiday weekend, let Billboard Family catch you up on what’s happening in family entertainment before it’s time to get back to school and work.
Wicked is on the big screen for a second weekend, and this week movie theaters welcomed Moana 2 to the lineup. The sequel to the 2016 Walt Disney Animation film leads the domestic box office (more on that below). When you combine the power of family hits Wicked (Universal) and Moana 2 (Disney), plus action picture Gladiator II (Paramount), you get a commercial phenomenon at the box office: The Hollywood Reporter says revenue over the long Thanksgiving weekend is set to break records, coming in at more than $425 million. Our recommendation for families is to check out Wicked, if you haven’t yet, and then Moana 2, so you can join in on the conversation about one or both in class or at the office.
In new music releases you and your kids might be interested in, Taylor Swift‘s The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology is finally out on vinyl. The set includes all 31 songs from the collection, plus four acoustic bonus tracks, and was made available exclusively at Target — at least in the U.S, where the retailer is also the one place you can find an exclusive CD version of the Anthology release, as well as Swift’s new The Eras Tour Book. I went out on Black Friday in search of all of the above for my family and came out successful, though I had to visit two Target locations to complete the mission.
Coming up on TV is the Monday, Dec. 2 premiere of Stars Wars: Skeleton Crew on Disney+, which is a coming-of-age series tween Star Wars fans should particularly enjoy. (Like my middle schooler, who said, or maybe scoffed, “Of course I’m watching it!” when I asked.)
Find out more about this week’s top picks in the Billboard Family Hits of the Week:
See ‘Moana 2’ in Movie Theaters Now
Moana 2, the sequel to Disney’s first Moana film, reunites the familiar voices of Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson in the roles of Moana and Maui. The story follows Moana, who’s received a call from her ancestors, as she goes on an unexpected adventure in long-lost waters, and has a soundtrack featuring new songs like “Beyond” and “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?” Watch the Moana 2 trailer above.
As THR reports, Moana 2 is already soaring high with its Thanksgiving weekend box office opening. The animated musical’s five-day debut is projected to surpass $215 million, which means it’ll top the previous record set by The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($204.6 million). The Disney animated film, directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller, will also become the greatest Thanksgiving opener and earner of all time, coming in ahead of both Frozen ($93.6 million) and Frozen II ($125 million).
Get Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology’ on Vinyl
What you see above is a Target floor display of Taylor Swift’s new exclusive items that were available only in-store on Black Friday: The Eras Tour Book, a Target edition of The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology on CD with four acoustic bonus tracks, and an exclusive vinyl version of the album, also with the same bonus tracks (those are “Fortnight,” “Down Bad,” “But Daddy I Love Him” and “Guilty as Sin?”). You might notice that there are no physical copies of The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology on vinyl in this picture. Why? Well, those sold out quickly at many Target locations.
All three items also just became available to order online in the U.S. today. At press time, Target’s website has the book and CD in stock, but appears to be sold out of the The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology vinyl — probably because it was a much-anticipated collector’s item.
So, what can you do if you missed out, and you were hoping to add this to your family’s vinyl collection? Here’s how to track it down: First, sign up on the product page on Target’s website to be notified if it comes back in stock. Then try calling your local Target stores to find out if any copies are still in-store. While the first Target location I went to had none in stock, my second try worked out. For the U.S. there’s been no official announcement about a restock, or when the Anthology vinyl might become available through other retailers. However, international fans should be able to find the vinyl release on their country’s version of Swift’s webstore, as the vinyl is not exclusive to Target outside of America.
Watch the ‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’ Premiere on Disney+
Above is the official trailer for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, which Disney describes as “the journey of four kids who make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, then get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home — and meeting unlikely allies and enemies — will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.”
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew stars Jude Law as a mysterious Force user named Jod Na Nawood. He’s joined by cast members Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Kyriana Kratter, Robert Timothy Smith, Tunde Adebimpe, Kerry Condon and Nick Frost.
Over Thanksgiving break, a preview clip from the series was also released. See it here, and catch the premiere on Disney+ on Dec. 2:
