'Moana' live-action remake has been released in theatres around ten years after the animated film. Notably, the movie had a weak start at the box office.
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Add BollywoodShaadis on GoogleDisney’s live-action adaptation of Moana arrived in theatres on July 10, 2026, with a lot of expectations. Notably, the remake has been released ten years after the original animated film, which collected more than USD 600 million at the box office. The latest adaptation has also marked the return of Dwayne Johnson as ‘Maui.’ The actor voiced the same character in the 2016 film.
While critics have already shared their opinion about the live-action remake, the box office numbers have now raised concerns for Disney. Keep reading to know more!
Moana was expected to create better records this time and bigger than the animated film. However, the result has been the opposite. The opening weekend collections worldwide have been reported as USD 95 million. The domestic figures were around USD 43 million, and the overseas markets added USD 52 million.
The results have been lower than Disney’s initial predictions, which were between USD 60-65 million at the domestic market, followed by global collections of USD 140 million. The current situation has now raised concern, specifically in terms of recovering the budget invested in the film, which is USD 250 million.
Disney reportedly invested USD 145 million in global promotion and advertising, based on which the company is now expected to face losses between USD 100-125 million. A few reports have stated that the Moana remake currently stands in the same position as the Snow White live-action film, which was released in 2025 and grossed only USD 205 million against a budget of USD 250 million.
The live-action remake of Moana has been released more than a year after Lilo & Stitch, which collected more than USD 1 billion at the box office.
The live-action remake of Moana was announced around three years ago in 2023. While critics and audience reviews have been highlighted as the major reasons behind its failure, a few other points are additionally believed to have contributed to the low box office numbers.
Some reports have stated that the gap between Moana 2 and the live-action remake is one of the main reasons. Well-known critic Tim Robey said that the remake was arriving too soon after the sequel to the animated film. He stated that even audiences believed that Moana 2 was a kind of cash-in, and the fact that Disney was directly bringing a remake after the animated film appeared like a “production-line decision.”
Apart from this, Auli’i Cravalho, who voiced the lead character in the animated film, was rumoured to return. But when she stepped back, leading to the casting of Catherine Laga’aia, the buzz around the remake is believed to have not remained the same as it was in the beginning.
On the other hand, the excessive use of CGI for the characters and the waves is also reported to have diminished the interest of the audience. This even led to comparisons to everything that appeared in the 2016 animated film. Moreover, some reports stated that since people have already watched the original film, they could see that the remake had no uniqueness since the camera angles and everything else were the same.
Although the Moana remake has not repeated the success of the animated film, Disney has a lineup of live-action remakes scheduled to release in the upcoming years. This includes Lilo & Stitch 2, Tangled, Hercules, and more.
What are your thoughts about the box office collections of the live-action remake of Moana? Let us know.
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