Dwayne Johnson has defended Disney’s live-action Moana remake following a $95 million global opening weekend and mixed critical reviews.
The transition from animated success to live-action reality has proven rocky for Disney’s reimagining of Moana. Despite the massive footprint of the original 2016 film and the 2024 sequel, the remake has floundered in theaters, facing a stark divide between critical reception and audience sentiment.
Dwayne Johnson’s Reaction to Critical Shift
Speaking with People magazine, Dwayne Johnson recalled an initial wave of positivity that quickly evaporated. The actor, who reprised his role as the demigod Maui, noted that the first two reviews were amazing
, but the tide soon turned.
“Our first two reviews came out. I’ll never forget it… They were amazing. I was like, wow. [Then] it went another way — as sometimes happens. That’s just the way it goes because we’re in this business.”
Dwayne Johnson, Actor
Johnson revealed that he and his wife, Lauren Hashian, processed the feedback at home, specifically at their kitchen island late at night. Their conversations focused on filtering out the noise
of the opening weekend to consider the film’s longer-term impact. For Johnson, the primary victory was not the critical score, but the fact that the culture really stood up.
The actor, who is of Samoan heritage on his mother’s side, stated that bringing Polynesian culture to the big screen was why the movie was made
. He highlighted the emotional impact for his children and others in the community who can now see themselves reflected on a cinema screen for the first time.
Box Office Shortfalls and Financial Risk
The financial data paints a challenging picture for the production. While box-office tracking had initially suggested an opening weekend in the $70 million range, the film debuted with just $95 million globally. This total included $43 million from North American theaters and $52 million from overseas markets.
The gap between the actual debut and Disney’s projections was significant. The studio had estimated a domestic opening of $60 million to $65 million and a global total of approximately $140 million. With a reported production budget of $250 million, the film faces a steep climb to profitability.
| Financial Metric | Reported Figure |
|---|---|
| Production Budget | $250 million |
| Estimated Marketing Budget | $120 million to $145 million |
| Global Opening Weekend | $95 million |
| Current Global Total (as of 4th weekend) | $261 million to $264 million |
Industry analysts suggest the film could lose between $100 million and $125 million theatrically. Because studios typically split theatrical revenues equally with exhibitors, the film would need to gross at least $500 million worldwide just to break even on its production costs.
The Critical Divide: Rotten Tomatoes vs. Audiences
The reception of the film has been characterized by a massive gap between professional critics and general viewers. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 31 percent critics score, though some sources list it as high as 33 percent. Conversely, the audience score is significantly higher at 88 percent.
Despite the low aggregate score, some critics were more lenient. The Hollywood Reporter’s chief film critic called it one of Disney’s better live-action remakes
, while Variety’s Owen Gleiberman noted that while it shouldn’t replace the original, it earns a place alongside it
. However, other outlets were less impressed; IGN awarded the film a 6/10.
This pattern of high audience approval failing to translate into ticket sales is a recurring theme. Despite the magical
experience reported by parents and the A- CinemaScore, the film’s debut rivals the weak $42 million opening of the 2025 Snow White remake.
Disney’s Remake Pipeline and Franchise Strategy
The underperformance of Moana may be tied to “remake fatigue” or poor timing. The film arrived shortly after Toy Story 5 and Minions & Monsters, and less than two years after Moana 2 grossed more than $1 billion worldwide. This rapid turnaround may have left audiences feeling the story wasn’t ready to come back
.
Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro acknowledged that the results were below expectations but defended the broader strategy. He noted that even when franchise films underperform at the box office—citing both the live-action Moana and Mandalorian and Grogu—the investments in these core properties fuel other parts of the company.
Despite the financial struggle of this specific title, Disney is not halting its live-action trajectory.
The failure of the Moana remake to reach a wide theatrical audience highlights a growing risk for Disney: the assumption that a billion-dollar animated brand automatically guarantees a live-action hit. While the cultural representation provided a personal win for Johnson, the financial data suggests that the live-action phenomenon
may be reaching a point of diminishing returns for the studio’s most recent properties.
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