Disney’s live-action remake of Moana is headed for disaster, tracking toward one of the worst openings in Disney remake history — and the reviews are just as brutal.
The film opens Friday in 3,875 theaters with projections as low as $40 million domestically.
That would be catastrophic for a movie with a $250 million budget.
“The cinematography is washed out and dull. It gets much worse once Moana sails off into the open ocean, as all sense of physicality and space is lost.”
Variety reports the film may bring in $65 million at best, with international markets looking slightly better at around $75 million. Either way, Disney is staring down a massive loss.
Compare that to Disney’s other live-action remakes: The Little Mermaid opened to $186 million, Lilo & Stitch earned $341.7 million, and Aladdin made $207 million.
Even the animated Moana 2 — which opened in 2024 — pulled in $139 million opening weekend and hit a billion dollars worldwide.
This live-action version can’t touch those numbers.
The film stars newcomer Catherine Laga’aia in the title role and Dwayne Johnson reprising his voice role as Maui — this time in the flesh. Director Thomas Kail helmed the project.
Critics are savaging it.
Rotten Tomatoes has the film at a dismal 32 percent.
Discussing Films called the shot-for-shot remake “one of the ugliest films of the year,” ripping the washed-out cinematography and computer-generated clutter that replaced the vibrant animated set pieces.
The review didn’t stop there: the film “lacks propulsive energy,” the actors “look bored,” and even Dwayne Johnson’s delivery comes off “flat” despite playing the same character he voiced in the beloved 2016 original.
Even Lin-Manuel Miranda’s songs — iconic in the animated version — reportedly suffer from “a feeling of apathy.”
Disney is now facing a bomb on the scale of Warner Bros.’ Supergirl disaster.
The original animated Moana opened to $56.6 million in 2016 — so this remake might barely edge out its predecessor’s opening weekend, but with a budget more than three times higher and vastly lower audience enthusiasm, that’s no victory.
The question now: how much will Disney lose on this one?
Disney’s live-action ‘MOANA’ is tracking to earn $130M+ on its worldwide opening weekend.
One of worst openings for a live-action Disney adaptation:
• ‘The Little Mermaid’ ($186M)
• ‘Lilo & Stitch’ ($341.7M)
• ‘Aladdin’ ($207M)‘Moana 2’ opened to a massive $386M, making it… pic.twitter.com/Iuoum0nX8D
— Cinema Wire 🎥🎞️ (@CinemaWireNews) July 7, 2026
‘MOANA’ debuts with 32% on Rotten Tomatoes.
• One of the lowest scores ever for a Disney live-action remake
Read our review: https://t.co/tjRoIlRGDp pic.twitter.com/8BhxTU6W7B
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 8, 2026
