Disney's live-action Moana draws harsh reviews on opening weekend

Disney's live-action Moana opened in theaters Friday to harsh reviews, putting fresh pressure on the studio’s remake strategy. The PG-rated reimagining runs 1 hour 55 minutes and stars Catherine Lagaaia as Moana and Dwayne Johnson as Maui.

Disney first announced the project in 2023, then moved it from a June 27, 2025 release date to July 10, 2026. The company cast Lagaaia in 2024 and identified her as 17 at the time, while saying Auli‘i Cravalho would serve as executive producer. Johnson, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia and Beau Flynn produced the film through Seven Bucks Productions and Flynn Picture Co., and Disney confirmed Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller were involved in the production.

The road to opening weekend was noisy long before the first reviews landed. Disney released the first trailer in November 2025, and by March 2026 fans were mocking Johnson’s wig and the film’s darker look. Disney said it would not make creative changes in response. The new version also adds Lin-Manuel Miranda’s original song Along the Way and brings Jemaine Clement back as Tamatoa.

The original 2016 Moana was one of Disney’s most successful modern animated releases, earning Oscar nominations for best animated feature and best-original-song for How Far I’ll Go. It also became part of a larger franchise footprint after Disney released Moana 2 in November 2024. At the same time, the original film drew criticism from some people in the South Pacific over cultural portrayal, which helps explain why Disney has emphasized collaboration with creative talent from across the Pacific Islands on the remake.

That backdrop turns the new Moana into more than another live-action title. Disney placed it in its 2026 summer lineup as one of the studio’s major releases after Pixar’s Toy Story 5, but the opening weekend reception suggests the company is testing how far it can go in revisiting relatively recent animated hits before the formula starts to look exhausted.