'Moana' sinks at box office. Is Disney's live-action remake era over?
'Moana' sinks at box office. Is Disney's live-action remake era over?
Brendan Morrow, USA TODAYSun, July 12, 2026 at 4:37 PM UTC
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The new "Moana" isn't going very far at the box office.
Disney's live-action remake of its 2016 animated hit has disappointed in the film's opening weekend, earning $43 million at the North American box office, according to studio estimates released by Rentrak on July 12.
That's one of the worst openings for any of Disney's live-action remakes, just a hair better than the studio's controversy-plagued revamp of "Snow White," which flopped in 2025 with a $42 million debut.
The opening was also lower than that of the original animated "Moana," which grossed $56.6 million over three days in 2016, or $82 million for the five-day, Thanksgiving holiday weekend. And it was far below the $139.7 million three-day, $225 million five-day opening for the animated sequel "Moana 2," which released at Thanksgiving 2024.
The "Moana" remake carries a significant production budget of $250 million, according to Variety.
In the 2010s, remaking animated hits in live action was a go-to way for Disney to produce box office gold. Some of these live-action remakes, including 2019's "The Lion King," are still among the biggest blockbusters of all time.
But the failure of "Moana," one of Disney's most beloved modern animated movies, raises questions about whether the reliability of the formula has come to an end.
How 'Moana' opening compares to other Disney live-action remakes
Then again, "Moana" underperforming may have more to do with the issue of timing.
Disney has scored biggest at the box office with live-action remakes of films released around 25 years prior, enough time for children who saw the original in theaters to have grown up and had kids of their own.
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Meanwhile, the lowest-grossing remakes, prior to "Moana," were typically of movies that were much older. The major exceptions are "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Jungle Book," though both of those films were sold on their dazzling 3D visuals more than nostalgia. "Alice in Wonderland" in particular was one of the first big 3D movies released on the heels of "Avatar" revitalizing the format in 2009 and rode that wave of hype.
According to Box Office Mojo, the three-day, domestic opening weekends for Disney's modern live-action remakes, discounting films released simultaneously on streaming during the COVID-19 pandemic, are:
"The Lion King" (2019): $191.8 million
"Beauty and the Beast" (2017): $174.8 million
"Lilo & Stitch" (2025): $146 million
"Alice in Wonderland" (2010): $116.1 million
"The Jungle Book" (2016): $103.3 million
"The Little Mermaid" (2023): $95.6 million
"Aladdin" (2019): $91.5 million
"Cinderella" (2015): $67.9 million
"Dumbo" (2019): $46 million
"Moana" (2026): $43 million
"Snow White" (2025): $42.2 million
"Pete’s Dragon" (2016): $21 million
A gap of 20 to 25 years between the original and live-action versions seems to be the sweet spot.
This suggests the new "Moana" may have suffered from being released too soon. The animated version of "Moana" came out just 10 years before its remake, much shorter than the usual amount of time between a Disney original and its redo.
Previous live-action remakes were also usually the first theatrical films to feature those central characters in many years, allowing anticipation to grow for the return of Ariel, Simba or Belle. This wasn't the case with "Moana": The franchise had been absent from theaters less than two years before its return.
It also couldn't have helped that "Moana" was largely panned by critics, who complained that it is a carbon copy of the original movie. But the 2019 remake of "The Lion King" also received mixed-to-negative reviews for the same reason and still made $1.6 billion, so that may not be the primary factor that held "Moana" back.
So does "Moana" mark the end of Disney's live-action remake trend? That's unlikely considering that just last year, the live-action "Lilo & Stitch" was a smash, grossing more than $1 billion worldwide. A sequel to the remake, "Lilo & Stitch 2," is on the way.
Disney already has a live-action remake of "Tangled" in development, with Kathryn Hahn set to play Mother Gothel. Still, the disappointment of "Moana" could cause Disney to be more selective going forward about which remakes to green light, and, in particular, being cautious about making any of them prematurely.
For movie theaters, "Moana" continues a disappointing stretch as the third consecutive summer franchise movie to come in under expectations at the box office, after "Supergirl" bombed and "Minions & Monsters" had the worst opening of its franchise. All eyes are on Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," which opens July 17, to break the pattern.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Moana' disappoints in box office opening weekend. What went wrong?
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
