{"id":5615,"date":"2026-07-14T05:48:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T00:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=5615"},"modified":"2026-07-14T05:48:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T00:48:26","slug":"why-disneys-live-action-remake-bombed-at-the-box-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=5615","title":{"rendered":"Why Disney&#8217;s Live-Action Remake Bombed at the Box Office"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/disney-2\/\" id=\"auto-tag_disney-2_1\" data-tag=\"disney-2\">Disney<\/a>\u2018s live-action <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/moana\/\" id=\"auto-tag_moana_1\" data-tag=\"moana\">Moana<\/a><\/em> did <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/moana-box-office-disney-opening-evil-dead-burn-1236644503\/\">not make the summer splash<\/a> that the studio had hoped, leading to questions about not only what might be in store at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/box-office\/\" id=\"auto-tag_box-office_1\" data-tag=\"box-office\">box office<\/a> for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/dwayne-johnson\/\" id=\"auto-tag_dwayne-johnson_1\" data-tag=\"dwayne-johnson\">Dwayne Johnson<\/a>-led title but also the potential for developing remakes of other animated favorites. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAfter last year\u2019s <em>Lilo &amp; Stitch <\/em>had a <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/lilo-and-stitch-mayhem-all-the-box-office-1236229988\/\">record-breaking $183 million<\/a> four-day opening weekend domestically before surpassing $1 billion in its global run, the live-action <em>Moana<\/em> appeared to represent a likely win as the summer approached. After all, the original 2016 animated movie \u2014 starring Johnson as the voice of demigod Maui who helps the titular girl (Auli\u2019i Cravalho) save her island \u2014 has become a beloved property for families and counts as the most-watched feature on Disney+. And, of course, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/moana-2\/\" id=\"auto-tag_moana-2_1\" data-tag=\"moana-2\">Moana 2<\/a><\/em> confirmed the excitement for new theatrical entries from the franchise <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/moana-2-box-office-records-broken-1236074175\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">when it hit $1 billion<\/a> after its November 2024 release \u2014 although there is more to discuss with that one in a moment. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tDespite Disney anticipating an opening above $60 million domestically after third-party tracking initially suggested the film could launch to as much as $75 million, the live-action <em>Moana<\/em> was left gasping at the box office. Its $43 million opening in North America puts it in dubious company as one of the weakest debuts for Disney\u2019s remakes and is particularly tough given its $250 million production budget. Other misfires included last year\u2019s $42.2 million opening for Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot\u2019s <em>Snow White<\/em> and the $45.9 million bow for 2019\u2019s Tim Burton-directed <em>Dumbo<\/em>, although both of those reimagined originals from generations prior and might have felt dated to younger audiences. Additionally, the live-action <em>Snow White<\/em> found itself caught up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/is-snow-white-box-office-bomb-1236170816\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in the culture wars<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tStarring <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-features\/catherine-lagaaia-moana-disney-nepo-baby-interview-1236639331\/\">Catherine Laga\u2019aia<\/a> in the title role, the new <em>Moana<\/em> had a few strikes against it that dinged the opening. Its 34 percent approval score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes makes it among the worst-reviewed live-action updates, although the fan response has been another story, as it earned an A- CinemaScore, including an A+ from those under 18, and is \u201cverified hot\u201d with a 90 percent Rotten Tomatoes audience rating.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWhile <em>Lilo &amp; Stitch<\/em> had given audiences more than two decades to miss the first one \u2014 and likely had the advantage of millennial parents wanting to share the story with their children \u2014 <em>Moana<\/em> was the most recent original to get Disney\u2019s live-action treatment. <em>Moana 2<\/em> was initially conceived as a Disney+ series but flipped to a theatrical release for 2024, which complicated the timing for the live-action movie that began production earlier that year. Given that Johnson voiced the sequel, fans may have felt that they had already scratched their <em>Moana<\/em> itch for the time being.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content-image \/\/  \">\n<figure class=\"o-figure   size-large alignnone lrv-u-max-width-100p\" style=\"width:1296px\">\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  \">\n<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-16x9\" style=\"padding-bottom:calc((730\/1296)*100%);\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Catherine-Lagaaia-Moana-everett-H-2026.png?w=1296\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"\" height=\"730\" width=\"1296\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-padding-tb-025\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"a-font-secondary-s lrv-u-margin-r-025\">Catherine Laga\u2019aia in <em>Moana.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"a-font-accent-uppercase-xs lrv-u-color-grey-dark\">Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIt also faced competition for families from such summer titles as Disney\u2019s own <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/toy-story-5\/\" id=\"auto-tag_toy-story-5_1\" data-tag=\"toy-story-5\">Toy Story 5<\/a><\/em> and Illumination\u2019s <em>Minions &amp; Monsters<\/em>. That said, the latter may have dealt with some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/minions-3-opening-weekend-box-office-1236636119\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">burnout of its own<\/a> in opening over the Fourth of July weekend to the lowest domestic sum for the <em>Despicable Me <\/em>franchise. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u201cEverything comes down to timing in this business, and it just did not work in <em>Moana\u2019<\/em>s favor in this case,\u201d Fandango director of analytics and Box Office Theory founder Shawn Robbins tells <em>The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>. He points out that certain titles found the sweet spot to capitalize on nostalgia, like Disney\u2019s live-action takes on <em>Beauty and the Beast<\/em> (2017), <em>Aladdin<\/em> (2019) and <em>The Lion King<\/em> (2019), with these reimaginings of 1990s originals all opening above $90 million domestically en route to surpassing $1 billion globally. Another of last year\u2019s successes was Universal\u2019s live-action remake of 2010\u2019s <em>How to Train Your Dragon<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s always a case-by-case basis,\u201d says Robbins about which Disney\u2019s movies could still work for live-action. Indeed, feature projects that were previously in development before seemingly stalling out have included live-action versions of <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/robin-hood-disney-live-action-remake-dead-1236524012\/\">Disney\u2019s <em>Robin Hood<\/em><\/a>, <em>Bambi<\/em>, <em>The Aristocats<\/em> and <em>The Sword in the Stone<\/em>. \u201cWho knows where Disney goes from here?\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content-image \/\/  \">\n<figure class=\"o-figure   size-large alignnone lrv-u-max-width-100p\" style=\"width:1296px\">\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  \">\n<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-16x9\" style=\"padding-bottom:calc((730\/1296)*100%);\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/MCDTANG_EC018-H-2025.jpg?w=1296\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"\" height=\"730\" width=\"1296\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-padding-tb-025\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"a-font-secondary-s lrv-u-margin-r-025\">A scene from Disney\u2019s 2010 animated movie <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/tangled\/\" id=\"auto-tag_tangled_1\" data-tag=\"tangled\">Tangled<\/a><\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"a-font-accent-uppercase-xs lrv-u-color-grey-dark\">Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tDisney will aim to get the right recipe for <em>Tangled<\/em>, as the live-action retelling of the 2010 animated feature focusing on Rapunzel is currently in production in Spain. Weeks after <em>Snow White\u2019<\/em>s disappointing 2025 launch, the studio opted to pause development on <em>Tangled<\/em> but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/tangled-live-action-movie-scarlett-johansson-disney-1236397034\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">resumed its progress<\/a> in the fall after the out-of-this-world box office returns for <em>Lilo &amp; Stitch<\/em>. Speaking of the latter, a live-action <em>Lilo &amp; Stitch<\/em> sequel is also in the works, and there are certainly plenty of fans who are holding their collective breath that a live-action <em>Frozen<\/em> ends up in development. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe <em>Moana<\/em> team can take heart knowing that the live-action movie has had its share of vocal supporters. \u201cListen to the people who showed up, rather than the ones hating it unseen just because,\u201d <em>Role Models <\/em>screenwriter Timothy Dowling <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TimothyDowling\/status\/2076529615611531550\">posted<\/a> over the weekend in praising the new <em>Moana<\/em>. Given the positive exit scores, Disney remains hopeful that the film can have legs, as the primary box office draw for the next two weekends will be Christopher Nolan\u2019s R-rated <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/the-odyssey\/\" id=\"auto-tag_the-odyssey_1\" data-tag=\"the-odyssey\">The Odyssey<\/a>.<\/em> <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAs for Johnson \u2014 who was cited as a key draw for those who did check out this weekend\u2019s film \u2014 <em>Moana 2<\/em> was a bright spot at the box office amid the star\u2019s recent stretch that includes commercial misfires <em>Black Adam<\/em>, <em>Red One<\/em> and <em>The Smashing Machine<\/em>. He returns to another proven franchise later this year with Sony\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/jumanji-3-trailer-dwayne-johnson-kevin-hart-jack-black-1236561968\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jumanji: Open World<\/a><\/em>, which will hope to excite fans despite opening just a week after both <em>Avengers: Doomsday<\/em> and <em>Dune: Part Three<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tFor the bigger 2026 picture, the spring was full of promise, thanks to <em>The Super Mario Galaxy Movie <\/em>and <em>Michael<\/em> \u2014 which both crossed the billion-dollar mark globally \u2014 and other hits like <em>Project Hail Mary<\/em> and <em>The Devil Wears Prada 2<\/em>. The summer has seen reasons to celebrate, including <em>Toy Story 5<\/em> appearing to head for the 10-figure club, not to mention surprise breakouts <em>Obsession<\/em> and <em>Backrooms<\/em>. But there have been wobbly recent weeks with disappointments like <em>Supergirl<\/em>, plus June\u2019s <em>Masters of the Universe<\/em>. <em>The Odyssey<\/em> and <em>Spider-Man: Brand New Day<\/em> are two behemoths waiting in the wings later this month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u201cIt has been a wild summer,\u201d admits Robbins, who points out that the season\u2019s biggest smashes are having to do some heavy lifting for the industry at large. \u201cNow there have been a few underperformers consecutively. That just really underscores what the expectation has been for a long time, that it would be a very top-heavy summer for the most part \u2014 and maybe for the year.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Disney\u2018s live-action Moana did not make the summer splash that the studio had hoped, leading to questions about not only what might be in store at the box office for the Dwayne Johnson-led title but also the potential for developing remakes of other animated favorites. After last year\u2019s Lilo &amp; Stitch had a record-breaking $183&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MCDMOAN_WD031.jpg?w=1296&h=730&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}