Disney was hoping to have another massive hit on its hands. Instead, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's latest movie got off to a far slower start than expected.
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The live-action Moana, which stars Johnson reprising his role as Maui, debuted with an estimated $95.6 million worldwide during its opening weekend. While that might sound impressive on its own, it's well below the type of launch Disney was counting on from one of its biggest franchises.
The film earned about $43.1 million domestically and another $52.4 million overseas after reportedly carrying a production budget of roughly $250 million.
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For comparison, Disney's live-action Lilo & Stitch exploded out of the gates with more than $300 million worldwide during its opening weekend last year. Even the studio's much-maligned Snow White remake opened with $87 million globally, putting Moana only slightly ahead despite far greater expectations.
That has many wondering whether Disney may have simply returned to the well too quickly.
The original animated Moana became one of the company's biggest streaming success stories, piling up more than 1.5 billion hours viewed on Disney+. Its sequel, Moana 2, also became a box office smash, earning more than $1 billion worldwide after its 2024 release.
With Moana 2 still fresh in fans' minds, some analysts believe audiences weren't eager to rush back for a live-action remake so soon.
The opening weekend also came in a crowded summer movie season, with Toy Story 5 continuing to attract families while Minions & Monsters remained in theaters as another major option.
The good news for Disney is that Moana still has plenty of time to recover. Summer vacation is just beginning in many parts of the world, and audience reactions have generally been positive. Several key international markets also have yet to open, including Japan later this month and Italy in August.
Still, there's no sugarcoating the debut.
For a film carrying a reported $250 million budget and featuring one of Hollywood's biggest stars in Johnson, Disney almost certainly expected a much stronger opening weekend. Now the question becomes whether positive word of mouth can help Moana find its footing over the coming weeks—or if this remake will ultimately fall well short of the franchise's previous box office success.
