Moana box office performance again raises questions about Disney live-action remakes

Share this Article:

With an estimated budget of $250m, Moana’s initial ticket sales look rather grim – marking another box office disappointment for Disney. Did the viral images of Dwayne Johnson’s wig put audiences off? Disney’s live-action remake of the 10 year-old animated classic Moana came out over the weekend, and its worldwide gross so far is around ... Moana box office performance again raises questions about Disney live-action remakes

With an estimated budget of $250m, Moana’s initial ticket sales look rather grim – marking another box office disappointment for Disney.

Did the viral images of Dwayne Johnson’s wig put audiences off? Disney’s live-action remake of the 10 year-old animated classic Moana came out over the weekend, and its worldwide gross so far is around $95m.

Given that the musical adventure cost a reported $250m to make, with $20m going on Johnson’s salary, it’s not an ideal start.

It’s the latest wobble in a bumpy year for Disney so far: The Mandalorian And Grogu, the Mouse House’s first Star Wars feature film in seven years, didn’t made much of a splash, either. It found itself thoroughly upstaged by the horror sensations Backrooms and Obsession, which collectively cost roughly half of Johnson’s salary for Moana.

There’s a long summer holiday ahead, and Moana’s box office may pick up. But Hollywood trade outlets are already asking what this opening weekend means for Disney, which is currently on track to lose around $120m or perhaps more on its Polynesian fantasy on its current trajectory.

Snow White, another live-action remake with not all that much live action in it, suffered a similar fate in cinemas in 2025. Disney’s response was, seemingly, to blame lead actor Rachel Zegler for the situation. Not a great look if we’re being honest.

Variety calls into question a matter of timing. The likes of Snow White and Tim Burton’s Dumbo redo were based on old movies that audiences didn’t care about, the outlet suggests, while Moana is the opposite: a remake of a 10-year-old movie that only had a sequel (which was a hit) come out less than two years ago.

Last year’s Lilo & Stitch, on the other hand, was a runaway success; a remake of the antic 2002 animated film of the same name, it made over $1bn on a budget of $100m.

Moana may have struggled due to competition from another Disney offering: Pixar’s Toy Story 5 is still in cinemas, and between that and Minions & Monsters, there are alternative family films to choose from right now.

At present, Disney has a number of other remakes in various stages of planning, including sequel Lilo & Stitch 2 and remakes of Tangled and Hercules. Given the tepid response to both Snow White and Moana, it may begin thinking about how it can keep its budgets to nearer Lilo & Stitch's $100m range than Moana’s quarter of a billion; it’s thought that Snow White cost even more at around $270m.

You could make a lot of low-budget dramas and horror movies with the cost of just one remixed Disney fairy tale. Just saying.