Moana Scores 2nd-Worst Rotten Tomatoes Score for Disney Live-Action Remakes
Critics called the Dwayne Johnson-led remake a lifeless copy, and it ranks as Disney’s second-worst live-action film on Rotten Tomatoes.
- Disney's live-action Moana hits theaters on Friday, July 10, 2026, facing harsh critical reception immediately after early international screenings began on July 8. The adaptation of the 2016 animated hit struggles with overwhelmingly negative reviews.
- Critics argue the adaptation is 'basically pointless' and 'superfluous,' with IndieWire's Wilson Chapman calling it the most superfluous of Disney's recent remakes. Reviewers note it lacks the soul of the 2016 animated classic despite being a nearly shot-for-shot remake.
- Currently, Moana sits at 32% on Rotten Tomatoes and 44 on Metacritic. Vulture's Alison Willmore described Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's appearance as 'artificial,' while Deadline's Gregory Nussen called his real-life presence 'lifeless' despite praising newcomer Catherine Laga'aia's charisma.
- Domestic opening weekend projections dropped to between $45 million and $60 million following negative reviews. With a $250 million budget, Moana's path to financial success appears increasingly questionable despite the original film's strong legacy.
- Disney is pressing forward with a live-action Tangled scheduled for 2027 despite these struggles. The studio's success with Toy Story 5 may shield the company from Moana's underperformance, though the live-action remake strategy faces renewed scrutiny.
17 Articles
17 Articles
Faced with the attempt to recover the claim for superhero cinema with the next Avengers: Doomsday, Disney follows other strategic paths for the exploitation of its intellectual properties. One of the most lucrative is undoubtedly the remakes in "flesh and bone" of its great classics. Because let's not fool ourselves, despite failures such as La merenita (2023) or Blancanieves (2025), the format is an economic filon for the mouse house. Although …
Action ‘Moana’ Looks Like Another Flop for the Disney Grooming Syndicate
In this Breitbart article, John Nolte reports that Disney’s live-action Moana remake is shaping up as another major box office bomb for the studio amid poor critical reception and weak audience interest. With a reported $250 million production budget plus $100 million in marketing, opening weekend projections hover around a dismal $40 million, far below...
Moana live-action by Disney is already in theaters around the world; however, its reception by critics at Rotten Tomatoes has not been expected, with a bad rating.For you to get an idea of Moana live-action's bad note at Rotten Tomatoes, this is one of the lowest of all Disney remakes.Moana live-action failed with its rating at Rotten TomatoesWith 105 reviews counted by Rotten Tomatoes, the rating of Moana live-action is a horrible 37% overall a…
Disney’s live-action ‘Moana’ opens to one of studio’s worst Rotten Tomatoes scores ever
Disney's live-action remake of "Moana" has landed among the lowest-rated titles in the studio's live-action remake catalogue. As of Wednesday, the film's Rotten Tomatoes score sat at 35% based on 55 reviews, putting it below last year's widely panned "Snow White," which settled at 39%.
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