Audiences may love Moana, but they weren’t ready for a remake.
Disney’s live-action version of its animated hit flopped at the box office this weekend, grossing an estimated $95 million globally. That’s a weak launch for a film that cost roughly $250 million to produce.
The $43 million domestic debut, which Disney called a “good start,” virtually tied last year’s bomb “Snow White” for the lowest opening of any of its live-action remakes of animated classics.
Though critics savaged the movie, opening night audiences gave it an average grade of A-, according to market research firm CinemaScore.
The original 2016 animated “Moana” grossed $643.3 million and became the most watched movie of all time on Disney+. “ Moana 2 ,” released in 2024, grossed just over $1 billion.
But the 10 years between the original and the remake, and the less-than-two-year interval since the sequel, may have been too short.
Longer waits allow more children to watch the movie for the first time in theaters, while adults cultivate nostalgia for a film they loved as kids. Disney has had a number of hugely successful live-action remakes that came out decades after the originals, including “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King,” and last year’s “Lilo & Stitch.” A remake of 2010’s “Tangled” is currently shooting in Spain.
2026 has been a strong year for Hollywood at the box office, but the industry has recently had a few films that underperformed, including Universal’s animated sequel “Minions & Monsters” and “Supergirl” from Warner Bros. Discovery’s DC Studios.
