Disney‘s live-action Moana, which stars Dwayne Johnson and Catherine Laga’aia, is getting off to a rocky start as the reimagining of the original 2016 animated feature opens at the box office.
Director Thomas Kail‘s new feature leads the weekend in scooping up roughly $18 million domestically Friday, including Thursday previews. Moana is eyeing an opening around $45 million from 3,900 North American screens, which would put it well short of its targeted $60 million-plus figure, after initial tracking suggested the film could even reach $75 million. Earning an A- CinemaScore from audiences, Moana carries a $250 million production budget and will need to draw family audiences in the coming summer stretch as Christopher Nolan’s R-rated The Odyssey joins the fray next weekend from Universal.
This start is reminiscent of the $42 million opening in March 2025 for Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot’s Snow White, a box office disappointment that earned a B+ CinemaScore and had a production budget of $270 million. Weeks after the subdued debut, Disney paused development on its planned live-action Tangled. The feature went back into development in the fall following the success of Lilo & Stitch, which opened in May 2025 to $146 million in North America, en route to hitting $1 billion globally. Tangled is currently in production in Spain, while a live-action sequel to Lilo & Stitch is on its way.
