Disney live Moana“Dwayne Johnson” and “Catherine Laga’aia,” starring Dwayne Johnson and Catherine Laga’aia, got off to a rocky start as the reimagining of the original 2016 animated film opened at the box office.
Director Thomas Kail’s new film leads the weekend collecting nearly $18 million domestically on Friday, including Thursday previews. Moana It is eyeing an opening of about $45 million from 3,900 screens in North America, which would put it well short of its target number of more than $60 million, after initial tracking indicated the film could reach $75 million. Get an A- CinemaScore from audiences, Moana It carries a production budget of $250 million and will need to attract family audiences this coming summer like an R-rated Christopher Nolan film. Odyssey He joins the fray next weekend from Universal.
This start is reminiscent of the $42 million opening in March 2025 for Rachel Ziegler and Gal Gadot. snow whitea box office disappointment that received a B+ CinemaScore and had a production budget of $270 million. Weeks after the debut, Disney temporarily halted development of the planned live-action film tangled. The feature returned to development in the fall after its success Lilo and Stitchwhich opened in May 2025 with $146 million in North America, and is on track to reach $1 billion globally. tangled It is currently produced in Spain, while it is a live-action sequel to Lilo and Stitch On her way.
The original Moana It becomes the latest Disney animated film to be given the live-action treatment, with the first hitting theaters less than a decade ago when it grossed an $82 million domestic opening for five days over Thanksgiving in 2016, resulting in a global box office of $643 million. This 2016 film introduced Johnson as the demigod Maui alongside Auli’i Cravalho as the titular girl with exceptional navigational skills, as the duo teams up to stop a curse from targeting her island.
He had greater success when he debuted theatrically less than two years ago Moana 2the 2024 animated sequel that saw Johnson and Cravalho reprise their roles. Originally conceived as a Disney+ series, Moana 2 It opened to $225 million domestically during the five-day Thanksgiving window and eventually surpassed $1 billion globally during its run. However, moving it to a theatrical release created a difficult timing situation for the live event MoanaProduction began in mid-2024.
Disney’s live-action animated remakes of its popular animated properties have included live-action versions such as Alice in Wonderland (2010), beauty and the beast (2017) and The lion king (2019), all of which opened to over $100 million domestically. All three benefited from a higher Rotten Tomatoes score than the live events MoanaAlthough the current critics rating is 34 percent “Hollywood Reporter”Leading film critic David Rooney’s review noted, “This charming new iteration stands confidently on its own.”
the Moana It’s clear that the franchise has a lot of fans. Disney touts that the property has amassed more than 1.5 billion hours streamed on Disney+, along with more than 22 million toys sold and surpassing 26 billion music streams.
Warner Bros. is opening. Also in wide release. Evil dead burningwhich kept the No. 4 spot warm with $6.7 million, including Thursday previews. Sohaila Yacob, Tandy Wright and Hunter Doohan star in director Sebastian Vanicek’s film, which marks the sixth title in the film series. evil dead The horror series after starting with Sam Raimi’s original in 1981.
In his review of THRRooney referred to the “ritual massacre” witnessed in the last film. Obtaining a B CinemaScore, the new installment follows Rising Evil Deadwhich opened to $24.5 million domestically in April 2023.
After opening at the box office last week, Universal Minions and monsters Family competition provided for Moana It is headed toward second place with $6.5 million on Friday against a frame of $21 million. This brings its domestic cume to $108 million after achieving Illumination’s lowest opening weekend for a film. Despicable me The franchise was launched in 2010.
Third place is Disney Toy Story 5featuring the return of voice stars Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. The animated sequel grossed $5.6 million on Friday and is expected to reach around $18.6 million after recently surpassing the $800 million mark in its global run.
Young Washington Rounding out the top five, the Angel Studios release looks to collect $2.1 million on Friday in its second frame. William Franklin Miller plays 20-something George Washington in the film, which opened with $19 million domestically over the Fourth of July weekend.
