Unlike its animated counterpart, the live-action Moana film doesn’t know the way to fans’ hearts. Disney’s adaptation of the 2016 film opened to an underwhelming US$95 million globally, despite topping the North American box office, falling short of the projected US$130 million to US$140 million debut.
Of the haul, US$43 million came from ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada, marking a poor start to a pic that cost US$250 million to produce. It also joins 2025’s Snow White as one of the lowest-grossing openings for the studio’s live-action remakes, which collected US$87 million worldwide — a far cry from its best performers, last year’s Lilo & Stitch, The Lion King (2019), Beauty and the Beast (2017), and Aladdin (2019), all having surpassed US$1 billion. At US$687 million globally, the original feature was a critical and commercial hit, with the momentum carrying into its sequel’s US$1.06 billion haul and pushing it to the third-highest-grossing film of 2024.
Directed by Thomas Kail (Hamilton), the live-action Moana remake follows the same story as the source material: the titular daughter of a village chief is chosen by the ocean to restore prosperity to her island. Stepping into the role is newcomer Catherine Laga’aia, while Dwayne Johnson reprises his role from the animated movies as the demigod Maui, who helps the Polynesian heroine on her journey.
On the other end, Michael is celebrating yet another milestone. The pic featuring the King of Pop has exceeded US$1 billion in global ticket sales, becoming the first biopic to do so and dethroning 2023’s Oppenheimer (US$975 million) as the biggest film based on a real person. Starring Michael’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, in the titular role, the Antoine Fuqua-directed movie centres on the legendary icon during the events of his 1987 “Bad” tour and will continue his musical legacy in a planned sequel.
While Moana failed to make waves at the box office, the same cannot be said of Toy Story 5. The latest instalment in Disney and Pixar’s 31-year-old franchise collected US$45 million to rank second at the domestic box-office charts and now sits at US$879.1 million globally. At the current pace, it’s on track to surpass Toy Story 4 as the highest-grossing entry and by extension, the one-dollar-million mark (the film earned US$1.07 billion worldwide).
In third place is Illumination and Universal’s Minions & Monsters, which added US$39 million to a US$280 million global haul. The spin-off may end up as the lowest-grossing outing in the hit franchise, but it will turn a profit against a US$85 million production budget. Moving from kid-friendly to R-rated territory, Evil Dead Burn landed at No.4 with US$13.7 million domestically and US$27 million worldwide, followed by Obsession as the top-five closer. The supernatural horror film has a global cume of US$426.8 million to date, with multiple box-office records under its belt.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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Kevin Low
