Disney’s live-action Moana was supposed to be another easy box office win. Instead, it’s becoming another expensive lesson .
After opening to just $43 million domestically and $95 million worldwide, the studio’s latest remake appears headed toward the same financial iceberg that sank Snow White. With a reported $250 million production budget before marketing, industry estimates now suggest Disney could lose $100-$125 million on the film’s theatrical run.
For Disney, this isn’t just another disappointing weekend at the box office. It’s another sign that audiences may finally be rejecting the company’s relentless strategy of turning beloved animated classics into live-action remakes.
The Numbers Look Alarmingly Similar to Snow White
Disney may not want to hear the comparison, but it’s becoming impossible to ignore.
The live-action Moana opened to $43 million domestically and $95 million worldwide, while 2025’s Snow White debuted to $42.2 million domestically and approximately $87.3 million worldwide.
Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Snow White (2025), Walt Disney Studios
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In other words, Moana earned less than $1 million more domestically than Snow White despite arriving without months of political controversy and adapting one of Disney’s strongest modern franchises.
Worldwide, Moana performed only modestly better, opening about $8 million higher than Snow White. Considering Moana reportedly carried a $250 million production budget before marketing, compared with Snow White‘s estimated $240–270 million production cost, both films now appear headed toward similarly painful financial outcomes.
Fans Already Had the Version They Wanted
Unlike Snow White, Moana didn’t enter theaters surrounded by months of political controversy. The original 2016 animated film remains one of Disney’s most beloved modern classics.
Even more importantly, audiences had just watched Moana 2.
That sequel crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide less than two years before Disney released this remake.
For many families, the obvious question became: Why pay to see essentially the same movie again?
The answer, judging by opening weekend, appears to be that many simply didn’t.
Lilo & Stitch Looks More Like the Exception
Following the massive success of Lilo & Stitch, Disney supporters argued the live-action remake formula was alive and well.
Moana tells a very different story.
Lilo and Stitch with Nani in the Live Action Lilo & Stitch movie – YouTube, IGN
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Instead of proving audiences still wanted these remakes, Moana suggests Lilo & Stitch may have been the rare exception.
Looking across Disney’s recent releases paints an increasingly troubling picture.
The Little Mermaid underperformed relative to expectations. Snow White became one of Disney’s biggest financial disasters. Now Moana is following the same path despite adapting one of Disney’s strongest modern brands.
That’s becoming harder to dismiss as coincidence.
Disney Keeps Cannibalizing Its Own Franchises
Perhaps the strangest decision of all was Disney’s release strategy.
The company rushed into a live-action remake 10 years after the original premiered and less than two years after audiences helped make Moana 2 a billion-dollar hit.
Moana in Moana (2016), Walt Disney Studios
Instead of allowing nostalgia to build over the years—as Disney once did with classics like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King—the studio essentially asked audiences to buy tickets for a movie they’d already seen recently.
For longtime Disney fans, it increasingly feels less like preserving beloved classics and more like squeezing every possible dollar out of familiar intellectual property.
Another Miss for Dwayne Johnson
The disappointing opening also continues a troubling trend for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
There was a time when Johnson’s name alone almost guaranteed blockbuster numbers.
That era appears to be over.
The Rock as Maui in the live action trailer for Moana – YouTube, Disney
Black Adam failed to launch the DC universe Johnson envisioned. Red One struggled beneath its enormous budget. The Smashing Machine earned praise from critics but failed to generate meaningful theatrical business or the Oscar nomination Johnson wanted so badly.
Now Moana joins that growing list of commercial disappointments.
Johnson remains one of Hollywood’s biggest personalities, but his recent box office track record no longer matches the image of an unstoppable blockbuster star.
Disney Needs to Remember Why Fans Loved These Movies
Disney built its reputation by creating timeless animated classics that families cherished for generations.
The live-action remake strategy originally worked because there was genuine nostalgia attached to films released decades earlier.
That isn’t the case anymore.
The like to dislike ratio for the first Moana trailer as of June 7, 2026 – YouTube, Disney
When Disney starts remaking movies that are barely 10 years old—and follows a billion-dollar sequel with an almost identical live-action version less than two years later—it begins to feel less like honoring its legacy and more like recycling it.
If Moana ultimately delivers the losses analysts are forecasting, Disney may finally have to confront a difficult reality.
Fans don’t necessarily want every animated classic turned into live action. Sometimes, they just want Disney to create the next classic instead.
How do you feel about this Moana box office debut? Sound off and let us know!
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