Disney's live-action remake of "Moana" is experiencing a disappointing opening weekend at the box office, with current projections placing its domestic debut at approximately $40 million to $45 million. This falls considerably short of earlier forecasts, which had ranged up to $60 million-$65 million. The film's opening day, including Thursday previews, secured around $17 million to $18.2 million, highlighting a weaker-than-expected audience turnout for the highly anticipated adaptation.
This underperformance is particularly concerning given the film's substantial reported production budget of $250 million, with an additional $100 million-plus spent on marketing. For context, this opening is only slightly above last year's Disney remake "Snow White," which debuted with $42.7 million and ultimately grossed just $82.7 million domestically. The original animated "Moana 2," released in 2024, opened with a much healthier $139.7 million from 4,200 North American theaters, demonstrating a significant drop in audience enthusiasm for the live-action version.
Factors contributing to the low numbers include competition from Universal/Illumination’s “Minions & Monsters,” projected to earn $20 million this weekend, and Disney’s own successful Pixar film “Toy Story 5,” which is expected to add $18 million to its domestic total, now reaching $400 million. The live-action "Moana" also faces critical reception challenges, holding a 34%-39% score on Rotten Tomatoes, signaling a lack of critical endorsement and audience interest compared to its animated counterparts. The film holds an A- CinemaScore, which is better than "Snow White's" B+ but still indicates a challenging path to profitability given its high costs.
