Disney’s Latest Live Action Bombs At The Box Office

Disney’s live-action version of “Moana” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson did abysmal numbers at the box office over the weekend, thanks in part to poor pre-sales and terrible reviews.

The film brought in $43 million across 3,827 North American screens, barely making a dent in its massive $250 million production budget, which doesn’t even include the astronomical cost of marketing efforts.

Many of these remakes have earned a massive haul for Disney, notably “Beauty and the Beast” (2017) and more recently “Lilo & Stitch” (2025). But there have also been some fantastic flops like “Snow White” last year.

As of last month, “Moana” was predicted to pull in $80 to $105 million during its opening weekend. But those numbers dropped as its July 10 release day grew closer.

It currently has a 33% critical score on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. “Virtually every line, beat, and song in the new movie is identical to the 2016 version, apart from a few minor punch-ups or extra comedy tags here and there… There’s no artistic or aesthetic reason for the live-action Moana to exist,” one review says.

“The film doesn’t worry about novel turns. It just walks us through the familiar avenues like a dutiful tour guide. A lazy, lazy work that sullies the good name of ‘content,’” says another.

“It evoked in me a similar reaction to AI slop, where I cringe at the unnerving blend of the familiar and the not-quite-right,” a third reviewer agreed.

Movie fans point out that something is lost when animated films are redone with real actors, a criticism that keeps coming up in the early reviews of Moana, too. “From start to finish, ‘Moana’ stands out as one of the ugliest films of the year. The cinematography is washed out and dull, even when it is simply attempting to capture the beauty of Motunui, shot on location in Hawaii,” one review says.

“There are visual gags from the original film that look bizarre in live-action, such as the way Maui repeatedly tosses Moana off her boat. The non-human characters, once full of expression and personality, have lost all their charm.”

Interestingly, the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is far more positive, holding strong at 90% as of Monday morning. This includes verified viewers.

“Same as the animated film. Nice summer movie, however if you’ve seen the animated film you’ve seen both!” one reviewer wrote, echoing what many others have said.

But another movie fan disagreed, writing, “Where’s all the hate coming from? Moana is a really good movie that’s [sic] best decision is to stick to the original.”