Disney’s live-action Moana has failed to make a splash at the box office, with the Dwayne Johnson-led remake of the 2016 animated smash-hit grossing just $95 million in its opening weekend around the globe.
The film, which sees Johnson reprising his role as demigod Maui alongside Catherine Laga’aia in the title role as Moana, earned just $43 million in North America, narrowly edging out last year’s lambasted Snow White ($42.2 million), with a further $52 million coming from international markets. That’s below Disney’s already modest projections, with the Mouse House having anticipated around $65 million domestically and $140 million worldwide.
Disney reportedly sunk $250 million into the production budget for Moana, not accounting for an enormous marketing spend, and with such a weak opening industry analysts are suggesting that the studio could lose upwards of $100 million on the film. That’s another costly failure for Disney, coming off the back of a reported $170 million loss on Snow White, although that blow was offset somewhat by the subsequent success of the billion-dollar grossing Lilo & Stitch.
SEE ALSO: Read our review of Moana here
Naturally, it remains to be seen if and how Moana’s performance might impact Disney’s future animated remake plans, or that of a third animated movie, teased by Johnson earlier this month in the run up to the live-action film’s release. However, given that 2024’s Moana 2 (which was originally planned as Disney+ series) also joined the billion dollar club, there’s clearly still an appetite for the franchise, in animated form at least?
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Originally published July 12, 2026. Updated July 13, 2026.
