Dwayne Johnson is responding to the rough reception surrounding Disney’s live-action Moana, arguing that the film accomplished something more important than winning over critics or dominating the box office.
The Disney remake arrived in theaters on July 10 with Johnson reprising his role as Maui alongside Catherine Lagaʻaia as Moana. But despite Disney returning to one of its most successful modern animated properties, the live-action adaptation has struggled both critically and commercially.
Speaking with PEOPLE, Johnson recalled initially believing the movie was headed for a much warmer critical reception.
“Our first two reviews came out,” Johnson said. “I’ll never forget it… They were amazing. I was like, wow.”
That optimism didn’t last.
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Then, Johnson said with a laugh, “it went another way,” adding that this is something that “sometimes happens.”
It certainly did.
The live-action Moana currently holds a dismal 31% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, although audiences have been considerably more forgiving, giving the movie an 88% audience score.
Meanwhile, the movie has grossed more than $263 million worldwide against a reported $250 million production budget.
That means the film would need substantially more than its production budget at the worldwide box office before Disney could reasonably expect it to become profitable theatrically, given theaters’ share of ticket sales and the additional costs associated with marketing and distribution.
In other words, the live-action remake of one of Disney’s biggest animated hits is hardly shaping up to be the theatrical juggernaut the company presumably hoped it would become. In other other words…it’s a big old flop.
Johnson Says That’s ‘Just the Way It Goes’
Johnson isn’t denying that the response has been disappointing.
“That’s just the way it goes because we’re in this business,” he told PEOPLE.
According to Johnson, he and his wife, Lauren Hashian, have spent time discussing the reaction to the movie at home.
The actor said they tried to look beyond the immediate response surrounding the film.
Hei Hei in the live action Moana – YouTube, Disney
“The challenge was, okay, let’s remember, though, what’s going to be beyond this opening weekend,” Johnson said. “Let’s remember what’s happening right now and the noise that’s happening right now.”
That is an interesting perspective considering just how much of the entertainment industry is built around opening weekends.
Studios spend hundreds of millions of dollars developing and marketing tentpole movies precisely because those opening weeks can determine whether an enormous investment becomes a blockbuster or a financial disappointment.
And for Moana, the numbers aren’t particularly encouraging.
But Johnson appears to have made peace with that reality.
“If you love it, great. If you don’t, no problem,” he said.
‘The Culture Really Stood Up’
For Johnson, the more important metric appears to be how the movie was received by the Pacific Island community.
“What really mattered,” he said, was that “the culture really stood up.”
Johnson, who is of Samoan heritage through his mother, Ata Johnson, said bringing Polynesian culture to the big screen was ultimately “why the movie was made.”
An island in Moana – YouTube, Disney
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“Because of me and our kids who can now look at the big screen and go, ‘That’s us for the first time on a big screen. That’s us up there. How cool is that?’” Johnson said.
Hashian offered a similar assessment.
“The whole community, the whole culture really showed up and they understood,” she said.
Hashian argued that the story also contains universal themes that can connect with audiences outside the Polynesian community, pointing specifically to “family and love and loss and perseverance.”
There is certainly nothing wrong with Johnson taking pride in seeing his Samoan heritage represented on screen or celebrating the reaction the film received from Pacific Island audiences.
But that also doesn’t erase the commercial realities facing Disney’s latest live-action remake.
Cultural Representation Doesn’t Make a $250 Million Movie Profitable
The distinction matters because Disney didn’t spend $250 million making a small cultural project intended for a limited audience.
It made another gigantic global blockbuster.
Disney took an animated film that grossed more than $687 million worldwide during its original theatrical release and became an even bigger phenomenon through streaming, then spent approximately a quarter-billion dollars recreating it in live action.
Moana in the live action movie – YouTube, Disney
The expectation for a production of that size isn’t simply that a particular community appreciates its representation.
The expectation is that millions of people around the world buy tickets.
So far, Moana hasn’t delivered on that level.
Its reported $263 million worldwide total puts the movie only slightly above its production budget before accounting for theaters’ cut of ticket sales or marketing expenses.
Moana and Pua from the Moana Teaser Trailer – YouTube, Rotten Tomatoes Trailers
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Johnson can understandably be proud of what the movie means to him culturally while simultaneously acknowledging the financial outcome.
Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.
But emphasizing cultural impact as the thing that “really mattered” also provides Disney with a convenient alternative measurement of success when the traditional measurements — critical reception and box office performance — haven’t gone particularly well.
However, Disney’s shareholders likely aren’t going to have the same reaction.
Disney Has Already Acknowledged Moana’s Struggles
The comments are particularly notable following Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro’s recent acknowledgment that Moana and The Mandalorian and Grogu did not perform as expected theatrically.
During Disney’s fiscal third-quarter earnings call, D’Amaro acknowledged that the two movies “did not perform as we expected,” although he argued that they still helped fuel other portions of Disney’s business.
That defense is becoming increasingly familiar.
Pedro Pascal as The Mandalorian, Dwayne The Rock Johnson as Maui, and Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro – Disney
When an enormously expensive Disney theatrical release doesn’t deliver the expected box office return, the company points toward streaming, merchandise, theme parks, franchise awareness, or some other portion of its sprawling entertainment empire as evidence that the project still created value.
Johnson’s argument is different, but the underlying dynamic is similar. That the movie didn’t need to win over critics. It didn’t necessarily need to dominate its opening weekend.
What mattered (to him) was something else.
But Disney didn’t need to spend $250 million to prove that Polynesian stories and characters could resonate with audiences. The original Moana already accomplished that a decade ago.
Representation Doesn’t Pay Disney’s Bills
At the end of the day, none of Johnson’s talk about representation changes what Disney actually made here: a $250 million commercial product that was supposed to make money.
“The culture really stood up” may be personally meaningful to Johnson. Seeing people who share his heritage on the big screen may have been a wonderful moment for him and his family.
But Disney’s shareholders didn’t invest billions of dollars into this company so its movie stars could have personally fulfilling moments of representation. They invested because they expect Disney to produce successful products and generate returns.
Young Moana in the Moana live action movie – YouTube, Disney
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And Moana isn’t a charity. It isn’t a cultural outreach program. It’s a blockbuster produced by one of the largest entertainment corporations on Earth.
Disney spent approximately $250 million producing this movie before marketing costs. It took one of the company’s most valuable modern animated properties, attached one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, and expected audiences around the world to show up.
They didn’t.
That’s the result that matters.
Hollywood has spent years attempting to redefine success whenever the numbers don’t cooperate. Suddenly representation, cultural impact, streaming engagement, franchise awareness, or some other intangible benefit becomes the important metric after audiences reject an expensive theatrical release.
Enough.
If Disney wants to spend hundreds of millions of dollars prioritizing representation over profitability, that’s its prerogative. But don’t pretend the resulting financial failure somehow ceases to matter because somebody got emotional seeing people who looked like them on screen.
The Rock crying in the Smashing Machine – Youtube, A24
Johnson says, “If you love it, great. If you don’t, no problem.”
For audiences, that’s absolutely true. They can simply choose not to buy a ticket.
For Disney, however, there’s a problem. Because this is a business. Businesses need results. And no amount of celebrating representation changes the numbers on the balance sheet.
How do you feel about The Rock commenting on Moana’s failure? Sound off and let us know!
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