‘Moana’ Capsizes With $95M WW Opening, And Dwayne Johnson Pic Poised To Lose $100M-$125M: Here’s Why

Deadline ^ | 07/12/2002 | Anthony D'Alessandro

[DFG]

Disney, have you learned your lesson yet?

Following the watering down of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on Disney+ during Covid and the era of then-CEO Bob Chapek, Bob Iger during his second regime promised a curated selection of big hits, quality over quantity. But with Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Mandalorian and Grogu and now the live-action remake of animated classic Moana, it’s clear that the Mouse House — to use a Snow White metaphor — doesn’t know when to stop taking too many bites of the apple.

Sources tell us that Moana, which arrives in theaters less than two years after the $1 billion-plus grossing animated hit Moana 2, stands to lose between $100 million-$125 million in the title’s first cycle after a $95M worldwide opening ($43M U.S./Canada) this weekend, a travesty for what was teed up as a summer tentpole and an extension of what is already a lucrative franchise for Disney (the two Moana animated movies have sold $22M in toys, generated $26M in music streams and have clocked 1.5B hours watched on the streaming service).

And by the way, that loss is if this movie hits $250M at the global box office, and our sources are being conservative. Disney didn’t reply to comment on our loss forecast.

Moana‘s opening here ain’t that far from Disney live-action disaster Snow White, which bowed to $87M WW and $42.2M in North America. However, that film was plagued by controversy over the seven dwarves and the pic’s star Rachel Zegler being outspoken. Moana had zero controversy in its run-up, and had the second most-watched trailer of any Disney IP live-action title (not including Marvel and Lucasfilm) at 182M views ever in its first 24 hours. So, WTF?

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TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: dwaynejohnson; getwokegobroke; moana

[Ge0ffrey]

The feel-good story of the day.

[Joe 6-pack]

They should have cast Greta Thunberg as Moana.

[BenLurkin]

Will the sequel be named “Screama”

[xp38]

that’s a shame...munch munch

[Jamestown1630]

I don’t have kids, but having been one for a while, I think traditional animation is probably more interesting to kids than live action.

Live action seems very artificial; I think that registers on some level with kids. (They already know that cartoons aren’t ‘real’ but then, they don’t try to pretend to be.)

[Tom Tetroxide]

The movie cost $250 to produce and then you add in marketing cost of about $140 and about $60 million in merchandising and the total cost in the $450 to $500 million range.

[packrat35]

My granddaughter wanted to watch this, so we went Sat. I thought it was OK. It pretty much was a copy of the original animated money. Nothing really bad about it that I saw.

I mean, they did the same thing with Lilo and Stitich and it made over 1 billion last year.

[Zathras]

Easy.
Don’t do a remake of something that is close to perfect.
Exodus
10 Commandments
Beauty and the Beast
Snow White
Spartacus

[DIRTYSECRET]

I have to sit through 25 minutes of other movie previews before the feature starts. Learning to show up late. Movies are generally cheaper on Tuesdays.

[PAR35]

Snow White got a bad rap. The star was whiter than piled up roadside Cleveland snow in February.

[Puppage]

Right? I bring ear plugs because the volume is absolutely ludicrous.

[skr]

I’ve not watched any of the recent Disney productions. Is the live action of Moana bad or just too soon? I’ve only seen a trailer once, and the lead looks appropriate, not like the rather scary-looking Zegler.

The last two Disney productions I watched, Cinderella and Tangled, I enjoyed. I don’t think Tangled would work as live action unless they use a lot of AI and CGI imaging, and so I’m hoping they just leave it alone.

[sauropod]

Bkmk

[PAR35]

I’m looking forward to a re-make of Gone With the Wind where Scarlett is trans and Rhett is Black.

And Casablanca could be re-made as a homosexual triangle.

I don’t know why Hollywood doesn’t hire me to come up with movie re-make ideas.

Another one for them - re-make Birth of a Nation with Black Klansmen.

[x]

Critical Drinker says — or implies — that it’s just a copy of the cartoon movie. He shows how similar some of the shots are. The movie seems kind of redundant and unnecessary — an obvious Disney grab for more money.

[Frank Drebin]

Moaberg...Gretana...Moeta...We'll work on the title.

[Jeff Chandler]

You left out Dumb and Dumber.

[x]

I’m looking forward to a re-make of Gone With the Wind where ... Rhett is Black.

He may have been. Much is made in the book of his dark appearance.

He was dark of face, swarthy as a pirate, and his eyes were as bold and black as any pirate’s appraising a galleon to be scuttled or a maiden to be ravished.

[Fai Mao]

“Will the sequel be named “Screama””

I would think B*tcha and Moana