The Rock confirmed that the live-action version of Moana will be his next movie role. He visit The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to discuss the project. During their interview, Dwayne Johnson revealed that Thomas Kail will be the director for Moana in 2026. Along with that information, the actor also shared that Lin-Manuel Miranda will be helping compose the music for the remake. (This also sees the songwriter and Kail teaming-up again after Hamilton.) But, these kind of late-night appearances are not complete without some sort of stunt and The Rock was happy to oblige on that front.
Johnson treated the crowd in attendance to a rendition of “You’re Welcome”, the hit song from Moana. A lot of the people in the audience got a kick out of that. Remembering back to 2016, Moana absolutely crushed at the box office. Disney is probably hoping for some similar magic when the live-action remake sails onto the screen in 2026. Check out The Rock belting out this hit down below!
The Rock Is Bringing Moana Back In Live-Action
Back when this project was announced, a lot of Disney fans were absolutely caught off-guard by a new live-action Moana. A shareholders meeting earlier today saw Johnson introduce the concept himself as Maui and will feature The Rock as a producer. Disney is very excited to revisit one of their most-beloved modern animated stories.
“I’m deeply humbled and overcome with gratitude to bring the beautiful story of Moana to the live-action big screen,” Johnson began. “This story is my culture, and this story is emblematic of our people’s grace and warrior strength. I wear this culture proudly on my skin and in my soul, and this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reunite with Maui, inspired by the mana and spirit of my late grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia, is one that runs very deep for me.
He continued, “I want to thank my partners at Disney for their strong commitment to this special endeavor, because there is no better world for us to honor the story of our people, our passion and our purpose than through the realm of music and dance, which is at the core of who we are as Polynesian people.”
Expect More Disney Remakes, Reboots, and Sequels
A Disney Investor Call last year saw CEO Bob Iger tell the stakeholders on the line that these types of moves were on the way. Sequels, remakes, and pushing for established stories look like the near-term future for Disney as a company right now. Toy Story, Zootopia, and Frozen are all in line for sequels. There was an Inside Out 2 trailer just last week, for example. As the company adjusts after the streaming boom, expect a lot more announcements like these.
Iger said, “And today, I’m so pleased to announce that we have sequels in the works from our animation studios to some of our most popular franchises: Toy Story, Frozen, and Zootopia. We’ll have more to share about this production soon, but this is a great example of how we’re leaning into our unrivaled brands and franchises.”
“And so, with that goal in mind, we will focus even more on our core brands and franchises, which have consistently delivered higher returns. We will aggressively curate our general entertainment content,” he argued. “We will reassess all markets we have launched in and also determine the right balance between global and local content. We’ll adjust our pricing strategy, including a full examination of our promotional strategies.”
