Disney’s Live-Action Moana Hits a Rough Wave: A Super Simple Box Office Report

What Happened This Weekend?

Imagine you have a favorite cartoon, and a studio makes a movie with real people acting it out. That’s called a live-action movie. Disney did this with Moana, starring Dwayne Johnson (aka "The Rock"). This past weekend was its big debut (the first three days it played in theaters everywhere).

Important Point: The movie made only $43 million in the U.S. and $95 million around the world. People hoped it would make over $130 million worldwide, so this is much lower than expected!

How the Weekend Played Out (Step by Step)

Box office experts (people who guess movie earnings) changed their minds a lot. Here’s the simple timeline:

1. Early Week: Experts guessed Moana would make $70M–$80M in the U.S. because early ticket signs looked okay.
2. Thursday Previews: The movie made $4.5M in early shows (starting at 2 p.m.).
3. Friday Morning: Experts dropped their guess to about $40M–$45M because only $4M in tickets were pre-bought (pre-sales = tickets bought before opening).
4. Friday Night: It made around $17M on its first full day.
5. Sunday Final: The movie landed at $43M in the U.S. (similar to the struggling Snow White movie which made $42.2M).

Why Did Moana Struggle? (ELI5 Reasons)

Think of it like eating dessert—if you just had cake, you might not want cookies right away!

• Too Soon: The cartoon Moana 2 was in theaters less than two years ago and made over $1 billion worldwide. People just saw a Moana movie not long ago!
• Too Crowded: It was the third family movie in less than a month, after huge hits Toy Story 5 and Minions & Monsters.
• Summer Relaxation: Families can wait to watch it later or on streaming (like Disney+). The next little-kid movie, Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie, comes Aug 14.
• High Cost: It cost $250M to make (plus ~$100M to advertise). That’s more than The Rock’s Red One ($200M) or Red Notice.

Callout: The whole movie theater market was down 38% compared to last year because Moana didn’t bring in big crowds.

Why Was Moana Scheduled Now? (The Timing Story)

Disney had reasons for picking this date:

• Moana live-action was announced in April 2023 by Johnson and Disney boss Bob Iger. It was moved from July 2025 to June 2025, then finally to this weekend.
• It was first planned by former executive Sean Bailey (who left for Tron Ares), and finished under new boss David Greenbaum.
• Disney didn’t want to clash with two huge 2026 movies: The Odyssey (July 17) and Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31). They thought being the "only family choice" in the middle was smarter.

What Did Fans and Critics Think?

Even if ticket sales were low, the people who went mostly liked it:

• Audience Grade (CinemaScore): Gave it an A (kids under 18 gave it an A+).
• PostTrak Survey (asks "would you tell a friend to go?"): 63% said yes. Women over 25 liked it most (78%).
• Critics (Rotten Tomatoes): Only 35% liked it—lower than Snow White (39%) or Dumbo (46%). They said it was just a copy of the cartoon with only one new song ("Along the Way" by Lin-Manuel Miranda). But makers did this on purpose to not upset fans by changing the story.

Who Bought Tickets for Moana? (Simple Stats)

Let’s look at who showed up:

• Women were 62% of the crowd (The Rock has a big fan club!).
• Age: The biggest group was 18–24 year olds (30%); over half were 18–34.
• Backgrounds:
  • Latino/Hispanic: 32%
  • Caucasian: 31%
  • Black: 16%
  • Asian American: 13%
  • Native American/Other: 8%
• How they watched: 37% used big premium screens (PLFs like IMAX); 11% watched in 3D. Hollywood’s El Capitan theater made the most from one spot (~$85K).
• Why they came: 39% said "looked fun", 25% love Moana, 16% are Rock fans.

How Did the Other Movies Do?

Minions & Monsters (Universal)

Still strong! Made $20.5M in its second weekend (only dropped 45%—that’s a good "hold"). It has made $108.2M total. Its 9-day total is $87.7M, running behind Despicable Me 4.

Toy Story 5 (Disney/Pixar)

A giant hit! Made $19M in its fourth weekend, passing $404M total in the U.S. (midweek it was at $385.2M).

Evil Dead Burn (New Line)

A scary movie for adults (rated R). Made $13.7M for the weekend (less than the prior Evil Dead Rise which made $24.5M). Got a "B" grade. Men liked it more (59%). Its early Thursday shows made $2.3M (just under the last one’s $2.5M). Critics liked it at 72% fresh, less than the last one’s 85%. AMC Burbank in LA was its best location (over $30K).

The Invite (A24/Annapurna)

A funny movie for grown-ups with Olivia Wilde. Expanded to more theaters and made $5.7M. Audiences loved it: 69% recommended it (4.5 stars!). It did well in big cities like Toronto, LA, and NYC.

Young Washington (Angel Studios)

Made $6.44M in its second weekend. It dropped a lot (66%), unlike their previous hit Sound of Freedom which grew +39% in its second weekend.

The Full Weekend Scoreboard (Top 11)

Here are the final weekend numbers (in millions of dollars):

1. Moana (Disney) – $43M (Week 1)
2. Minions & Monsters (Universal) – $20.5M (Total: $108.2M)
3. Toy Story 5 (Disney) – $19M (Total: $404.2M)
4. Evil Dead Burn (New Line) – $13.7M (Week 1)
5. Young Washington (Angel) – $6.44M (Total: $33.1M)
6. The Invite (A24) – $5.7M (Total: $7.38M)
7. Obsession (Focus) – $3.8M (Total: $253.3M)
8. Supergirl (Warner Bros) – $3.56M (Total: $66M)
9. Disclosure Day (Universal) – $3.2M (Total: $111.3M)
10. Backrooms (A24) – $1.48M (Total: $194.1M, Global: $375.7M)
11. Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass (SPC) – $1M (Soft result for Sundance buy)

Important Point: Moana‘s preview money ($4.5M) was higher than Snow White ($3.5M) and Dumbo ($2.6M), but way lower than Moana 2 ($13.8M) and Little Mermaid ($10.3M).

Summary

Disney’s live-action Moana had a weak start with $43M U.S. and $95M worldwide, missing the $130M goal. Timing was the biggest problem: it came too soon after Moana 2 and faced tough competition from Toy Story 5 and Minions & Monsters. Fans who went gave it great grades (A), so Disney hopes weekday viewers will help. Other movies like Evil Dead Burn ($13.7M) and The Invite ($5.7M) had decent showings. The movie cost $250M to make, so it needs strong word-of-mouth to float!

FAQ

1. What does "live-action" mean?
It means the movie uses real actors (like Dwayne Johnson) instead of animated cartoons.

2. Why didn’t Moana make as much money as hoped?
Bad timing! It came out too close to the cartoon Moana 2 and other family hits, so families didn’t rush to see it.

3. Did people who watched Moana like it?
Yes! Regular audiences gave it an "A" grade and 63% said they’d tell friends to go, even though professional critics were not fans.

4. How much did it cost to make the new Moana movie?
It cost $250 million to produce, before counting the money spent on advertising.

5. What other movies were popular this weekend?
Minions & Monsters made $20.5M, Toy Story 5 made $19M, and the scary movie Evil Dead Burn made $13.7M.