The live-action Moana movie 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, and The Jungle Book have all received incredible responses at the box office, which makes it no surprise that Disney is looking to expand to the Moana franchise. The 2016 movie already earned $687.2 million at the box office on a budget of under $200 million. The live-action Moana remake has 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 Entering 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’s Mulan, which massively changed the story, Moana is expected to adapt the story directly, while enhancing the narrative with impressive effects.
Disney likely also learned from Mulan’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. It earned an audience score of just 46% on Rotten Tomatoes. The faithful Lion 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 to The Lion King than Mulan, though it worked well on Disney+.
Though filming is soon to begin, Moana will 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 King is expected to be released on December 20, 2024, Snow White on March 21, 2025, and Lilo & Stitch is still slated for a 2024 release. Moana will be a later release, but there are more to come after it, including Hercules, Bambi, and Robin Hood. With Moana ready to begin production, however, it is officially on the horizon.
