Live-Action Moana Opens Soft with $18M, Signaling Slower Disney Start

Disney’s live-action Moana opened to $18 million on opening day (including $4.5 million from Thursday previews) across 3,875 theaters, a soft start compared with the original Moana and other Disney live-action debuts; weekend projections have slipped to about $42–$46 million. Reported production costs are around $250 million (excluding marketing). Early critic score is roughly 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. The 2024 animated Moana 2 grossed over $1 billion worldwide, highlighting a high bar for the franchise going forward.