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Tough break for Disney as the live-action "Moana" crashed at the box office this weekend with a $43 million opening against a budget of around $300 million. Internationally, it didn't fare much better with just $52 million. That's barely above what "Snow White" opened to last year, which ended up grossing a mere $87 million domestic.
What happened? The decision to make a live-action "Moana" seemed like a sound one. The animated 2016 film is one of the most-streamed movies on Disney+, so the Disney flywheel kicked into gear to greenlight a live-action redo that would bring Dwayne Johnson back as Maui, and the Disney+ team would simultaneously make a sequel series for the streaming service.
Those plans changed when Bob Iger returned as CEO and decided to pivot the company's strategy back to prioritizing theatrical, which meant retrofitting the animated series into an animated movie, "Moana 2." That film was a big commercial (if not critical) hit in 2024, grossing over $1 billion worldwide. But perhaps this IP got oversaturated in the marketplace as the prospect of yet another "Moana" movie — a carbon copy of the animated original, at that — was ignored by consumers.
Of Disney's last five theatrical live-action remakes, only two — last year's $1 billion-grossing "Lilo & Stitch" and "Lion King" prequel "Mufasa" — can be considered blockbuster hits. 2025's "Snow White" bombed ($206 million worldwide), 2024's "Mufasa" was an international hit but failed to make a huge splash stateside ($722 million worldwide, but only $254 million domestic), and 2023's "The Little Mermaid" got mired in culture wars (it topped out at $570 million worldwide).
So what to make of Disney's strategy of remaking its classic animated films? As TheWrap's Jeremy Fuster pointed out, nostalgia is key to these movies working at the box office, and "Moana" was simply too recent a film to draw out nostalgic millennials, many of whom are now parents to young kids. That's what fueled "The Lion King," "Aladdin" and "Beauty and the Beast" to billion-dollar grosses, but the strategy (the brainchild of former live-action head Sean Bailey) is frankly running out of movies to remake.
Next in the hopper is a live-action "Tangled," based on the well-liked 2010 film, and a mix of millennial and Gen Z nostalgia could certainly fuel that one to box office heights, while a brand new sequel for "Lilo & Stitch" with Chris Sanders directing is being fast-tracked for a 2028 release (not a remake!). And the inevitable live-action "Frozen" will surely be a sensation, although Disney is likely waiting until the animated sequels gross their own billions of dollars before greenlighting that one.
In the wake of "Moana," Disney should be considering what a live-action theatrical slate looks like without hinging it on remakes. The well runneth dry.
But hey, it could be worse. Warner Bros./DC's "Supergirl" grossed just $3.6 million in its third weekend of release, bringing its domestic total to $66 million. Woof. How much longer until WB throws this one to PVOD?
Disney's remake of "Moana" has wiped out at the box office, earning an opening weekend total of just $43 million domestic and $95 million worldwide, and will now have to find a way to leg out just to reach break-even territory.
For comparison, that result is just barely higher than the $42.7 million domestic/$87.3 million global opening of Disney's "Snow White," which bombed in spring 2025 with a global total of just $205.6 million
Whether it is because of strong competition for family audiences from Universal/Illumination's "Minions & Monsters" or Disney's own Pixar hit" Toy Story 5, global interest in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals, or "Moana" oversaturation from the 2024 animated sequel, the prospect of seeing Dwayne Johnson play Maui again in live-action form is one that many are passing up on.
The one positive sign that Disney is holding onto is that those who did see "Moana" are giving it a positive reception with an A- on CinemaScore and a 90% Rotten Tomatoes audience score. The film also has a 4.5/5 score in Comscore polls. The hope is that with no further family-friendly offerings coming until "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" at the end of the month, there will be room to leg out even with the World Cup final next Sunday.
But with a combined production and marketing spend of at least $300 million, any legs "Moana" can muster will likely go more towards pushing it towards break-even territory theatrically. The profitability of this popular animated IP will continue to come primarily from theme park, merch and other ancillary revenues derived from the animated "Moana" films, as well as "Moana 3," which Johnson told reporters is in development.
As noted above, solid holds for "Minions & Monsters" and "Toy Story 5" likely contributed to the low opening for "Moana." "Minions 3" earned a second weekend total of $20.5 million, bringing its total to $108.2 million domestic and $280 million worldwide. With a reported budget of $85 million, it will be another hit for Universal and Illumination even though it won't hit the heights of past "Minions" and "Despicable Me" films.
"Toy Story 5" is just behind with $18.5 million in its fourth weekend for a running total of $403.8 million domestic and $879 million worldwide, now standing as the sixth highest grossing film in Pixar history before inflation adjustment. This film is the primary reason why, despite the struggles of "Moana," Disney has contributed a third of the $2.42 billion grossed at the domestic box office this summer with $846 million and counting, the other major contributor being the $220 million of "The Devil Wears Prada 2."
In fourth is Warner Bros./New Line's "Evil Dead Burn" with a $13.7 million opening weekend from 3,004 theaters. While roughly half of the $24.5 million that "Evil Dead Rise" earned in 2023, this $20 million ultra-gory franchise horror film should post a modest theatrical profit. Longtime fans of the 45-year-old "Evil Dead" series were generally pleased with the vicious film, giving it a B on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 72% critics and 82% audience. – Jeremy Fuster
Who wants to buy Letterboxd and why? That's the question as news broke last week that the beloved-by-cinephiles social media platform is holding early sales talks with a host of suitors, including movie studios like Netflix, Sony and Paramount. Social media was already aflutter with Letterboxd users bemoaning changes any studio owner would make, but TheWrap's Roger Cheng, Casey Loving and Lucas Manfredi dug into why these studios would want to buy Letterboxd in the first place. Hint: Data, data, data. Read the full story here.
Why 'Moana' Bombed: Get a full deep-dive into why "Moana" didn't hit this weekend in Jeremy Fuster's analysis.
Which Spielberg Movies Make Bank on Streaming?: Steven Spielberg's movies have made over $500 million in streaming revenue since 2020, but the top movies may surprise you.
How to Get a Job in Moviemaking: In our latest Trade Secrets, we run down what to do after graduating from (or dropping out of) film school.
Why the 'Hamilton' Guy Made 'Moana': Drew Taylor spoke with "Moana" director and Broadway legend Thomas Kail about his feature debut. And also Maui's missing nipples.
The 'Monsters Inc.' Sequel That Never Was: Drew also has the exclusive inside story on Disney's abandoned "Lost in Scaridise."
Why 'Moana's Auli'i Cravalho Wasn't in the Live-Action: Andi Ortiz spoke to the original "Moana" star, who candidly revealed she cried when she was told she wouldn't be starring in the live-action redo.
Universal's "M3GAN" spinoff "SOULM8TE" will skip theaters and debut directly on VOD.
"Michael" is now the highest-grossing biopic of all time with $977 million.
Christopher Nolan is not a fan of AI in filmmaking.
Neon sold a significant stake of its company to Department M.
The live-action "Naruto" movie will find its leads via a worldwide casting search. Your time to shine is now!
All five "Hunger Games" movies will return to theaters this fall ahead of the new one, which is a great reminder that four of these movies are genuinely terrific.
Eleanor Coppola shot a never-finished making-of doc of Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette," and it's finally coming out.
For all you physical media diehards, "Practical Magic" will be released on 4K Blu-ray in time for the sequel.
How about this: Curry Barker's smash horror hit "Obsession" made its streaming debut on Friday, and still managed to gross $3.8 million at the box office this weekend. Universal opted for a shorter PVOD window on this one (just about two weeks), but it's fascinating to see the box office momentum of this thing just not slowing down. Its domestic total is $253 million.
I saw Olivia Wilde's "The Invite" back at Sundance and loved it, so it's heartening to see A24 give the film a wide theatrical release — it really is best seen in theaters. Something like a riff on "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," the entire movie takes place in the apartment of a married couple played by Wilde and Seth Rogen, whose relationship is put under a microscope when a couple played by Edward Norton and Penelope Cruz come over for dinner.
It's impeccably directed, beautifully shot, tremendously acted and full of surprises. And as I said back in January, I suspect this one will be on a lot of "Best Movies of the Year" lists. It will certainly be on mine.
