Summary
The live-actionMoanamovie is ready to begin production. Based on Disney’s 2016 hit, the live-action adaptation will continue the company’s of adapting its animated movies into live-action.Aladdin,The Lion King, andThe Jungle Bookhave all received incredible responses at the box office, which makes it no surprise that Disney is looking to expand to theMoanafranchise. The 2016 movie already earned $687.2 million at the box office on a budget of under $200 million.The live-actionMoanaremakehas already been scheduled for July 10th, 2026.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson(Maui) took to Instagram to celebrate a massive production development. Check out his post below:
In the announcement,Johnson proudly states that “Production begins this August.“The image also lists members of the cast, including Johnson as Maui, Catherine Laga’aia as Moana, John Tui as Chief Tui, Frankie Adams as Sina, and Rena Owen as Gramma Tala. The image announcement includes pictures of each actor next to the original animated character.
The Live-Action Moana Movie Is About To Enter Production
It Is Not Likely That There Will Be Many Changes
With the live-action movie ready to begin filming next month, the story is likely already set and written in its near-final form. The actors are still likely to improvise some scenes, but the movie should be a fairly straightforward and faithful adaptation, given that Johnson and producer Auli’i Cravalho (the original Moana) will have been involved in both productions. Unlike 2020’sMulan, which massively changed the story,Moanais expected to adapt the story directly, while enhancing the narrative with impressive effects.
Moana Remake Cast & Character Guide
Disney’s reimagining of their hit movie Moana will be a retelling of the animated story with live-action versions of the cast of characters.
Disney likely alsolearned fromMulan’s failure. The movie made just $69.9 million on a $200 million budget. The failure was partly driven by being forced into streaming by the pandemic and partly by audience discontent, all the more evident by the audience score of just 46% on Rotten Tomatoes. The faithfulLion King(2019) earned more love from viewers with an audience score of 88% and a box office result that netted $1.66 billion. Disney would undoubtedly prefer a result closer toThe Lion KingthanMulan, though it worked well on Disney+.
Though filming is soon to begin,Moanawill not be the next live-action Disney adaptation. There are many more adaptations in development both before and after Johnson’s movie.Mufasa: The Lion Kingis expected to be released on June 14, 2025,Snow Whiteon July 02, 2025, andLilo & Stitchis still slated for a 2024 release.Moanawill be a later release, but there are more to come after it, includingHercules,Bambi, andRobin Hood. WithMoanaready to begin production, however, it is officially on the horizon.
Moana
Cast
In Disney’s live-action adaptation of “Moana,” a young Polynesian girl embarks on a daring voyage to save her people, seeking the demigod Maui’s help to restore the heart of Te Fiti.
