We have our answer to the question of how far the live-action remake of Moana would go. And that answer is: not very far. Despite being based on one of the most beloved animated films of the 21st century, and featuring one of the original voice stars, the 2026 live-action remake of Moana sank at the box office over the weekend, earning a lackluster $43 million in its first three days of release. This is a far cry from the $60 million experts predicted, and even further from the $139.7 million Moana 2 earned in its opening weekend just two years ago.
To put this into perspective, the original animated Moana earned $56.6 million in its opening weekend a decade ago, which is still more than the live-action remake managed to scrape together. It’s clear that Disney was expecting a much bigger splash, but instead, the film barely made a ripple. The fact that it earned $52 million in international theaters is small comfort, considering the overall underperformance.
So, what went wrong? Well, for starters, the live-action remake came out a mere 10 years after the original, which is unusually soon for a Disney remake. Typically, Disney likes to wait a few decades before rebooting a classic, but in this case, they must have figured that the nostalgia was still strong enough to carry the film. Unfortunately, it seems that audiences didn’t quite agree. With Moana still readily available on Disney+, it’s likely that many families just didn’t see the need to shell out for a live-action remake.
Another major factor was the competition. For the first time in a while, families actually have a lot of great options to choose from in theaters. Toy Story 5 came out less than a month ago, and Minions & Monsters debuted just last weekend. With so many other great films vying for attention, it’s no wonder that Moana got lost in the shuffle. It’s a shame, really, because the film did receive a solid A- rating on CinemaScore from audiences who did see it.
The Live-Action Remake Conundrum
This raises an important question: are live-action remakes still a viable business model for Disney? On the one hand, the company has had a string of successes with films like The Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast. On the other hand, the failure of Moana suggests that maybe, just maybe, audiences are starting to get a little tired of the same old stories being rehashed. After all, Disney is already working on a live-action remake of Tangled, which is only a few years older than Moana. It’s starting to feel like the studio is mistaking familiarity for originality.
It’s worth noting that Disney’s live-action remake schedule has been getting increasingly aggressive in recent years. It’s as if the studio is trying to mine every last bit of nostalgia from its back catalog, without stopping to consider whether or not audiences actually want to see these films. The Content Mines, it seems, remain fully operational. Somewhere, a Focus Group earned another bonus for telling executives exactly what they wanted to hear.
The Future of Franchises
So, what does the future hold for Disney’s live-action remakes? Will the studio take the failure of Moana as a sign to slow down and reassess its strategy? Probably not. More likely, executives will simply nod very seriously during an expensive meeting and declare that the next remake will be the one that finally gets it right. After all, the Merchandising Department reportedly approved the decision before the writers did, so there’s clearly a lot of money to be made here.
As the Franchise Resurrection Department continues to churn out remake after remake, it’s hard not to feel a little cynical about the whole thing. It’s starting to feel like Hollywood is more interested in rehashing old ideas than in coming up with new ones. The sacred ritual of canceling shows immediately after audiences discover them continues unabated, while executives search for fresh ideas inside movies released between 1982 and 2008.
In the end, the failure of Moana is just another reminder that sometimes, it’s better to leave well enough alone. But hey, at least the trailer was “the most anticipated event of the decade,” right? As the algorithm continues to decide what audiences want to see, it’s hard not to wonder if anyone in Hollywood still actually cares about making good movies, or if it’s all just about the bottom line. Somewhere, an executive whispered, “Can this become a trilogy?” And the cycle continues.
Finn McFrame, celebrated satirical mastermind and self-proclaimed “Emperor of Irony,” started his illustrious career as a cinematographer, where his expertise in capturing every single frame of a squirrel stealing a baguette earned him accolades at obscure film festivals.
Born in the glamorous town of Boring, Oregon, Finn grew up with dreams of being a Hollywood director until he realized that satire, not cinema, was his true calling—or at least the one that let him sleep until noon.
Finn McFrame: changing the world, one satirical lens flare at a time.
