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Disney’s live-action “Moana” remake heads to theaters amid poor early reviews and soft opening projections.
Industry experts project that the film could debut at around $60 million in North American theaters this weekend, though some analysts expect an opening closer to $40 million, against a reported $250 million production budget, according to Variety. It comes on the heels of last year’s “Snow White” remake, which also received widespread criticism and had similar box office projections.
The film officially hits theaters on July 10, but early critic reviews have already landed the remake in rough seas. “Moana” debuted with a 32% Rotten Tomatoes critics score, according to Forbes.
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While the score has since increased to 39%, it remains one of the studio’s lowest-rated adaptations, sitting just above 2022’s “Pinocchio” and currently tied with the 39% scored by “Snow White.”
Critics have questioned why the film was made in the first place, with the original animated version of “Moana” debuting less than a decade ago and its sequel premiering just two years ago in 2024.
A reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle called the film a simple “money grab,” adding, “What’s a real head-scratcher is how it can feel so lifeless with real people as compared to the animated original.”
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The Daily Telegraph (UK) gave the film two out of five stars, writing that the final product felt as if it were created by artificial intelligence:
“This was, by all appearances, an incredibly costly and labour-intensive production, yet there is barely a moment in it which feels as if it couldn’t have been achieved by typing: ‘What if this scene from Moana was remade in live action?’ into a video generator’s prompt box,” they wrote.
While a writer for the Substack publication Girl Culture said it isn’t the worst of Disney’s remakes, she argued it exemplifies what’s going wrong at the studio:
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“[Moana] isn’t necessarily the worst of these remakes the studio has churned out, but somehow feels most representative of the rot at the core of this artistic project.”
The plot of the original “Moana” centered around a Polynesian teenager who works with the demigod Maui to save her dying island. The new version follows the exact same premise, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson reprises his role as Maui, only this time wearing a long, curly wig that drew criticism from some viewers online.
Several of Disney’s live-action remakes have delivered mixed financial results. The studio’s 2019 adaptation of “Dumbo” opened to $45 million domestically, while 2025’s “Snow White” opened to around $43 million.
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However, “Snow White” was met with multiple controversies at the time, including criticism of its portrayal of the characters with dwarfism, the film’s lead actress Rachel Zegler’s comments on the 1937 film and its “weird” love story, and her comments on the situation in Gaza.
The studio did find success with the live-action version of “Lilo & Stitch,” which crossed the $1 billion mark after its release last year.
Fox News Digital reached out to Walt Disney Studios for comment but did not immediately hear back.
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