Moana Live-Action Targets $130M Global Opening
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- Moana (live-action) is projected for a $130M+ global opening and $60M+ domestic bow across 3,900 theaters, backed by Imax, PLFs, 3D and 4DX formats with a target demo of women and families.
- Advance ticket sales of roughly $4M point to a $60M+ domestic start, below the $75M tracking figure, in a summer where WB/DC's Supergirl and Illumination's Minions & Monsters posted lackluster openings.
- The film follows Moana 2's record Thanksgiving 2024 bow of $225.4M (5-day domestic) and $389M global, raising the "too much Moana too soon" question just 19 months after the animated sequel hit theaters.
- Dwayne Johnson reprises demigod Maui while Catherine Laga'aia takes over the title role from Auli'i Carvalho, with Thomas Kail (Disney+'s Hamilton film) directing his first theatrical feature.
- Overseas Moana has a 91% footprint—excluding Japan (late July) and Italy (late August)—with Latin America, Australia/NZ, France, Germany and the UK expected to anchor a $70M-$75M international start.
- Summer box office stands at $2.3B through July 5, running 12% ahead of 2025, with the domestic market on the verge of crossing $5B (13% ahead year-over-year).
- Warner Bros/New Line's Evil Dead Burn opens in 3,000 theaters tracking in the teens, while Sony Pictures Classics' Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass (81% fresh) expands to 1,200 theaters alongside A24's The Invite (1,600 sites).
Why it matters: A $60M+ domestic opening would land below Moana 2's $139.7M 3-day bow but in line with Disney's 2023 live-action The Little Mermaid ($61M international), meaning the studio's strategy of converting streaming-era animated hits into theatrical remakes gets its first real stress test against franchise fatigue, with the original Moana's 1.5 billion Disney+ hours watched as the safety net.
