The upcoming live-action remake of Moana has been delayed. The movie is one of the most recent Disney properties to receive the live-action treatment. The original 2016 animated movie, which featured songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i, and Mark Mancina, followed teenager Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) traveling the ocean with the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) in an attempt to save her island home and spread her wings as an explorer. The remake, which will be directed by Thomas Kail, will feature Johnson reprising his original role.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, the Moana live-action remake has had its release date delayed to July 10, 2026. This is more than a year later than its originally announced release date, which was June 27, 2025. This release date change does not seem to affect the current plan for the movie to begin principal photography before the end of 2024, a timeline that was previously teased by Johnson, who is also a producer for the movie, on social media.
Although a movie being pushed back by a year is a drastic move, it makes sense that this is the course of action that Disney is taking. The original release date was announced in June 2023, but a lot has changed since that time. This includes this January’s surprise announcement that the sequel Moana 2 would be coming to theaters on November 27. The animated movie was originally developed as a Disney+ show before being retooled into a theatrical release, which is what allows for such a quick turnaround between the announcement and its release.
However, the sudden appearance of an animated Moana sequel on the schedule complicated prospects for the live-action movie. The new schedule would have only given the sequel seven months to breathe before the franchise got a complete makeover. This could have complicated the box office prospects of both movies, as viewers eagerly anticipating the live-action movie may have given the animated sequel a pass and the sequel may have introduced too much franchise fatigue for the follow-up movie to draw a wide audience.
Pushing back the release date of the live-action Moana also allows Johnson more flexibility in scheduling his appearance on set. The star has a wide variety of upcoming projects to which he is committed, including Red One, Fast X: Part 2, and potential sequels to San Andreas, Jungle Cruise, and Red Notice. His commitments to promotion, reshoots, or production on any number of those titles could cause delays that might have seen the remake needing to be rescheduled regardless.
Source: THR