Dwayne Johnson and Katherine Lagaia to lead Disney live-action Moanawhich is aiming to make a splash at the box office for its debut this weekend but may face a challenge, coming less than two years after the most recent entry in the island-focused film franchise.
Director Thomas Kail’s film is eyeing a domestic opening weekend of between $60 million and $65 million with a launch including 3,900 theaters in North America. This is brought back from last month, when tracking down the film – which marks the studio’s latest live-action reimagining after being a huge hit in 2025 Lilo and Stitch -Suggested MoanaIts domestic debut could reach $75 million or more.
With a massive production budget of $250 million, Disney is going to need it Moana Serving as a family-friendly summer option for weeks to come. The film remakes directors John Musker and Ron Clements’ 2016 animated musical of the same name which introduced Johnson as the voice of the demigod Maui alongside Auli’i Cravalho as Moana. The film revolves around Moana teaming up with Maui to prevent a curse from affecting her family’s island.
New Moana It did not quite sit well with the majority of critics. In his review of Hollywood Reporterchief film critic David Rooney wrote that “this charming new iteration stands confidently on its own,” but the latest Moana It received only a 37 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from reviewers.
Disney hopes audiences won’t suffer from franchise overload, given that Moana 2the animated sequel that saw the return of Johnson and Cravalho, hit theaters in November 2024. Although initially conceived as a Disney+ series, the film was a smash hit, collecting $225 million domestically during the five-day Thanksgiving window on its way to surpassing $1 billion globally. With the original Moana Having hit theaters less than a decade ago — when it grossed an $82 million five-day domestic opening over Thanksgiving in 2016 and $643 worldwide — this makes it the latest Disney animated film to get the live-action treatment.
“To be honest with you, I never really bought into that idea [of]“You have to wait 20 years.” I’ve waited 30 years. “It’s very early,” Johnson said. THR This week Moana Premiere in Los Angeles. “Honestly, I never did – and not because I’m biased and I made the film – but because there are themes and values in this, in animation MoanaThis could translate well if you saw a real little girl going through this.
Disney live The lion king It remains as of 2019 the studio’s biggest reimagining success story, opening to $191 million domestically. Lilo and Stitch And it wasn’t too far off with a May 2025 opening of $146 million in North America, on track to reach $1 billion globally. Chris Sanders, who directed the 2002 animated film Lilo and Stitch He voices the titular alien, and returns to lead an upcoming live-action sequel, while still being live-action tangledProduction on the film, starring Tegan Croft and Milo Manheim, has begun in Spain.
The final glitch was in the live-action properties snow whitefeaturing Rachel Ziegler and Gal Gadot. It opened to $42 million domestically in March of last year.
Moana It was a very thriving brand for the studio. Disney touts that the property has led to more than 1.5 billion hours streamed on Disney+, as well as more than 22 million toys sold and surpassing 26 billion music streams.
Other family-friendly titles that provide competition for the frame include Disney Toy Story 5which crossed $800 million worldwide just before its fourth weekend, and Universal’s Minions and monsters. The latter opened last weekend with the lowest domestic amount for a title in Despicable me privilege.
This summer’s box office fluctuations suggest viewers may be more likely to be drawn to a property that has been in a longer theatrical absence. DC Studios Supergirl It became one of the biggest missteps of the season when Warner Bros. released it. On June 26, a year later Superman It landed in movie theaters. In addition, Minions and monsters He arrived two years later in 2024 Despicable me 4which followed in 2022 Minions: Rise of Gru.
The Warner Bros. film was also released. Widely released in theaters. Horror show Evil dead burningthe latest installment in evil dead The film franchise that began with Sam Raimi’s 1981 original. Rating: Ronnie L THR He referred to the “orgy of carnage” of the new film.
Universal’s July 17 release looms on the horizon Odysseywith Christopher Nolan directing a star-studded cast that includes Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Anne Hathaway, and Lupita Nyong’o. Ready to swing into theaters on July 31 is Sony Spider-Man: A Brand New Dayalso the Dutch Championship. No large-scale weekend releases are scheduled between these two attention-grabbing portfolios, giving audiences a chance to catch up on titles like Moana.
