The fans love it, but the numbers show much differently. Disney’s live-action Moana has hit rough waters at the box office, opening well below expectations and putting the studio on track to lose somewhere between $100 million and $125 million on the film.
The remake, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and newcomer Catherine Lagaʻaia, brought in roughly $43 million domestically over its opening weekend, landing within the previously reported $42 million to $46 million range. Worldwide, the film opened to about $95 million, with $52 million of that coming from international markets. Those numbers fall well short of the $60 million-plus domestic opening Disney had originally been hoping for.
The shortfall is especially painful given how much Disney spent to bring this version of Moana to theaters. The film carried a production budget of around $250 million before marketing costs, with global promotion estimated to have added another $145 million or so on top of that. Even if the film manages to reach $250 million globally by the end of its run, which would be a solid outcome under normal circumstances, Disney would still likely be facing a loss in the nine figures once production and marketing costs are factored in.
Moana’s opening now finds itself in the same conversation as 2025’s Snow White, which opened to $42 million and is widely considered the weakest debut among Disney’s modern live-action remakes. Moana’s numbers put it right in that same territory.
Interestingly, the film did not struggle with the people who actually showed up to see it. Moana earned a strong A- CinemaScore from opening weekend audiences, suggesting that those in theater seats largely enjoyed themselves. Critics were considerably less kind, with the film sitting at just 36% on Rotten Tomatoes.
So what went wrong? Timing appears to be the biggest culprit. Disney released this live-action version barely 19 months after Moana 2 hit theaters in November 2024, giving audiences very little breathing room between trips back to the world of Motunui. On top of that, Moana opened into a crowded July marketplace, competing directly with Toy Story 5 as well as Illumination and Universal’s Minions & Monsters, all fighting for the same family audiences.
Between the tight turnaround from Moana 2 and the packed release calendar, Disney’s live-action Moana looks like it will go down as one of the more expensive missteps in the studio’s recent remake efforts.
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