Gone are the days when Disney could pick any classic animated movie from its library, remake it in live-action, and earn hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office. In fact, none of the four biggest live-action remakes that Disney produced in the last two decades — Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin, and Alice in Wonderland — even earned universally positive reviews. But the most recent movies in this streak (bar the Lilo & Stitch remake) have increasingly underperformed. The latest is the Moana remake that was released in theaters worldwide this past week. The film’s weak box office has led to projected losses exceeding $100 million.
Directed by Thomas Kail and featuring Dwayne Johnson, Moana received mostly negative reviews upon release, and is now sitting at a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. The aggregator website’s consensus reads, “The sea calls to no one in this underwhelming new version of Moana, an endeavor that solidifies its animated predecessor as the superior adventure.” That said, those who watched the movie seemed to enjoy it a fair bit. Opening day audiences gave the Moana remake a solid A- grade on CinemaScore, while the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes audience score stands at a “Verified Hot” 90%. It remains to be seen if these scores help the movie’s box-office performance in the long run, or if non-fans simply wait for it to hit Disney+. But one thing is clear: not enough people showed up to watch the film in its opening weekend.
Here’s How Much the ‘Moana’ Remake Is Expected to Lose Disney
Moana grossed $43 million domestically and around $52 million internationally for a global debut of $95 million. The movie cost a reported $250 million to produce, which means that it needs to gross at least $500 million worldwide just to break even. Remember, studios typically share box-office revenue equally with exhibitors and cover the marketing costs themselves. In Moana‘s case, the marketing expenses are estimated to be around $145 million. Moana‘s opening weekend haul will likely result in significant losses for Disney, with the figure estimated to be anywhere between $100 million and $125 million. The studio is coming off another major summer misfire in The Mandalorian and Grogu, which grossed around $340 million worldwide against a reported budget of $165 million. In 2025, Disney reportedly suffered losses of around $130 million when Tron: Ares tanked at the box office.
Moana is in theaters now. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
- Release Date
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July 10, 2026
- Runtime
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120 Minutes
- Director
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Thomas Kail
























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