“If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me / One day I'll know / If I go, there's just no telling how far I'll go...”
We now know how far Moana will go... and it’s not far.
Disney’s live action remake of their 2016 animated gem Moana has earned approximately $43 million in its first three days of release, according to studio estimates.
This is a huge blow for the House of Mouse, as this figure does not even come to a fifth of Moana ’s massive $250 million production budget.
Previous predictions had indicated that the film would earn close to $85 million – later revised to $60-70 million - over its opening weekend.
Internationally, the film earned an additional $52m, adding up to a $95m global debut.
To put that figure into context, the original animated film had a five-day Thanksgiving opening of $82 million in the US, and went on to gross over $248 million in the US and $643 million worldwide. As for the sequel, Moana 2 (2024), it took $225 million in its opening weekend and made more than $1 billion.
In Euronews Culture’s review of Moana, we wrote: “If you were enchanted and moved by the coming-of-age nautical adventure of a Polynesian chief’s daughter (then Auliʻi Cravalho, now Catherine Laga'aia) chosen by the ocean to retrieve a mystical relic stolen by a demi-god (then Dwayne Johnson, now Dwayne Johnson again), stay away. It’s the same film all over again, just duller, flatter, and with The Rock in a nipple-deprived bodysuit.”
We added: “Disney’s shameless master plan is hardly new, but this time they couldn’t even nostalgia bait properly. Considering the original Moana only came out 10 years ago, there’s no new audience to appeal to with this pointless rehash.”
Beyond the quality of the film, one factor to this box office disaster is timing.
Other hugely popular family-oriented films in cinemas now have proved fierce competition for Moana, including Toy Story 5 and Minions & Monsters, which debuted last weekend. Additionally, Moana ’s release comes only one week ahead of Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster juggernaut The Odyssey – the highly anticipated adaptation of Homer’s epic poem.
With The Odyssey hitting theatres worldwide on 17 July – followed by Spider-Man: Brand New Day on 31 July - the box office drop for Moana promises to be steep.
