Moana’s live-action remake is performing so poorly that it’s starting to feel like this might spell the beginning of the end of this particular Disney trend. The retelling of the Disney fan favorite is likely to be one of the worst-performing remakes in Disney history at the box office, and any hope of it making back its budget is now lost.

Moana Is Going To Lose Disney A Lot Of Money

The Moana remake has been in theaters for two weekends now, and its worldwide box office total, according to Box Office Mojo, sits at just shy of $178 million. That total might not be considered all that bad for most movies. For a Disney remake with a budget like this, however, it’s an unmitigated disaster.

According to Variety, the production budget for the new Moana movie was $250 million. Add $120 million onto that total for marketing, and it’s currently believed Disney is bracing for a loss of at least $100 million on the big-budget remake.

The budget for the original Moana is estimated to have been less than $150 million. It made more than four times that amount at the box office.

That implies that, at best, Disney expects Moana to make another $100 million at the box office. I’ll be honest, based on the lack of interest in the movie, I would be incredibly surprised if the film manages to break $250 million by the time its theatrical run comes to an end. It’s probably going to overtake Snow White, but it will be a case of Moana of Montunui limping past that number to make sure it doesn’t end up in dead last.

How Moana's Box Office Stacks Up Against Other Disney Remakes

Right now, that’s exactly where it sits in terms of modern-day Disney live-action remake box office numbers. It has only been two weeks, though, so, as I said, it’s likely to just about scrape past Snow White. After that, though, there’s not much hope of Moana overtaking any of the Disney remakes that have come before it.

Several of Disney’s live-action remakes have made more than $1 billion at the box office. That’s why, no matter how much you might not like them, Disney continues to churn them out. The Lion King, Lilo & Stitch, and Beauty and the Beast all grossed more than $1 billion each worldwide.

Stitch sitting on the ground making a silly face in Lilo and Stitch

Aladdin and Alice in Wonderland also made $1 billion each, and The Jungle Book was less than $50 million away from doing the same. Even Cinderella, which I didn’t realise had a live-action remake, broke half a billion, and the next step up after Snow White is Dumbo, which grossed $353 million by the time it left cinemas.

The lukewarm reaction to Moana getting remade, paired with some of the worst review scores in Disney remake history, suggested this might happen. However, other live-action Disney remakes have gone on to make big money even though it seemed like people didn’t want them. Waiting less than a decade after the original Moana to release its remake, and the new version being an almost shot-for-shot remake, may be why there is simply less interest in this Disney retelling than the ones that have come before it.

Moana Like PG Family Fantasy Comedy Adventure Release Date July 10, 2026 Runtime 120 Minutes Director Thomas Kail

Cast

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  • Catherine Laga'aia Moana
  • Dwayne Johnson Maui
  • John Tui Chief Tui
  • Frankie Adams Sina
Writers Dana Ledoux Miller, Jared Bush Producers Beau Flynn, Dwayne Johnson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia Franchise(s) Moana Powered by Expand Collapse