Disney’s live-action Moana fails to make a splash at box office with underwhelming opening

The Walt Disney Company’s live-action remake of Moana may be the No 1 movie at the North American box office but it did not make a big splash in its first weekend in theaters.The movie, which cost a reported $250m (£187m, A$360m) to produce, earned just $43m from ticket sales in the US and Canada, according to studio estimates on Sunday.Internationally, it earned $52m from 50 markets, adding up to a $95m (£71m, A$137m) global debut.The studio bet big on Moana, one of its most popular franchises. The 2016 animated film is the most-watched movie on Disney+. Its sequel, which was stitched together from a planned streaming series, made more than $1bn and scored a Thanksgiving record when it opened with $225m in 2024.This latest Moana, directed by Thomas Kail, brings Dwayne Johnson back as the demigod Maui and introduces the Australian actor Catherine Lagaʻaia as the adventuring Polynesian princess. Despite praise for Lagaʻaia, the film set sail on a wave of dismal reviews from critics for being essentially a shot-for-shot remake of the original.Moana is now sitting at a 34% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences, the majority of whom were women (66%), were less negative: according to PostTrak, 63% said they would “definitely” recommend the film to friends. Parent reactions were even stronger, with 78% saying they would recommend it to other parents. It also got a promising A- CinemaScore.Disney’s live-action remakes of beloved animated films, new and old, have had their share of successes and disappointments. Some have made more than $1bn, including Lilo + Stitch, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. Others have floundered, most notably last year’s Snow White, which made only $205m worldwide. Moana opened more on par with Snow White, which made $42.2m in its opening weekend at the North American box office and $87m globally.Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Rentrak, said Moana’s debut could also be a product of PG-rated oversaturation in the marketplace: Universal’s Minions & Monsters was in second place with $20.5m and Toy Story 5 was close behind in third place with $18.5m, with a running global total of $879.1m.“Families love going to the movies but right now there are three of them,” Dergarabedian said. “That’s a lot of competition.”PG-rated films outgrossed others in 2024 and 2025, so Moana’s performance may not be a case of “family movie fatigue,” he said, but simply showed there could be a ceiling. Families have to make a choice and, after four weekends, Toy Story 5 is still going strong.There also are signs that these movies might not sink or swim based on the opening weekend alone. Although Minions & Monsters opened below expectations over the Fourth of July holiday, it also had a modest 45% drop this weekend. Its running domestic total is sitting at $108.3m.The total domestic box office for the year is now sitting just under $5.2bn, up about 10.7% from this point last year. While both May and June were very strong – both generating over $1bn in North America – July, Dergarabedian said, has faced some headwinds with a string of underperformers, including Supergirl. Things will probably pick up next week with the arrival of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey followed by Spider-Man: Brand New Day the weekend after.“They could power a stronger August than July at the box office, which would be very unusual,” Dergarabedian said.