Disney’s live-action reimagining of the beloved animated musical Moana has failed to make a splash at the box office, earning just $43 million during its opening weekend across 3,827 North American theaters. Despite leading the weekend box office, the film significantly underperformed expectations, falling far short of Disney’s pre-release projections of $60 million to $65 million domestically and highlighting the challenges the studio faces in justifying its strategy of remaking recent animated classics.
The disappointing result is particularly significant given the film’s massive $250 million production budget, not including marketing costs. Industry analysts project the live-action Moana could lose approximately $100 million for the studio during its theatrical run, putting it in the company of other recent box office failures like last year’s Snow White, which earned just $42 million in its opening and ultimately grossed only $205 million globally against a similar budget.
Internationally, the film performed no better, earning $52 million for a global opening of just $95 million. For context, the original 2016 animated Moana debuted with $56 million domestically and eventually earned $680 million worldwide. Its sequel, Moana 2, which opened less than two years ago, set a Thanksgiving weekend record with a $225 million domestic debut and surpassed $1 billion globally.
The timing of the live-action adaptation has become a central issue in explaining its commercial struggles. The film arrives just ten years after the original animated film and less than two years after the enormously successful sequel, leaving audiences questioning why they should return to theaters for a nearly identical story they have easy access to on Disney+. The gap between originals and remakes has historically been critical to Disney’s success with this format—films like Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Aladdin, which drew from the 1990s and early 2000s, succeeded because enough time had passed to build nostalgia. The Lilo & Stitch remake, which debuted in May 2025 and went on to gross over $1 billion, benefited from remaking a film from 23 years earlier.
Critical reception has been uniformly harsh, with the film holding just a 33 to 35 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics who called it “pointless” and “purposeless.” Many reviewers criticized the film as a shot-for-shot remake that adds nothing new to the original story. While audiences who attended gave the film an A- CinemaScore, suggesting families who showed up were largely satisfied, critics lamented the loss of the original’s vibrant animation style and charm. The photorealistic cinematography was frequently described as washed-out and lifeless compared to the colorful, energetic animated version, and the live-action animal characters—particularly the rooster Heihei and the crab Tamatoa—were said to have lost their appeal.
Directed by Thomas Kail, who helmed the filmed version of Hamilton, the live-action Moana stars Catherine Laga’aia as the titular character and brings back Dwayne Johnson to reprise his role as the demigod Maui. Both actors received praise from some critics, with Laga’aia particularly noted for bringing charisma to the role, though Johnson’s performance was criticized as strangely lifeless. The film features one new song from Lin-Manuel Miranda called “Along the Way,” but otherwise sticks closely to the original narrative and music.
The disappointment comes amid a broader struggle for Disney’s live-action remake strategy. While films like The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Aladdin were massive box office successes, more recent entries including The Little Mermaid and Snow White have underperformed. The success of Lilo & Stitch last year suggested audiences still had appetite for these adaptations, but Moana’s collapse suggests the appetite may be declining due to audience fatigue with both IP and remakes, combined with the challenge of justifying reworking films that remain fresh in the cultural memory.
The opening weekend also reflects a broader softness at the summer box office more generally. Universal’s Minions & Monsters, which opened the previous weekend, had itself disappointed with a relatively low start before dropping to second place with $20.5 million in its second weekend. Disney’s Toy Story 5 continued its strong performance, earning $18.5 million in its fourth weekend.
With a theatrical run ahead of it, Disney will be hoping the film can find audiences during the summer months before major tentpoles like Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey arrive next weekend. However, with such a weak opening and overwhelmingly negative critical reception, the prospects for meaningful additional revenue appear limited. The situation raises questions about Disney’s future plans for live-action remakes, including upcoming projects like a live-action Tangled. The company has several more remakes in development, including adaptations of Hercules and The Aristocats, though Moana’s performance may prompt reconsideration of how frequently to revisit recent animated films.