Moana sinks at the US box office with a catastrophic start
With only $43 million for its first American weekend, the young Polynesian heroine has one of the worst starts in the history of live-action Disney remakes and is already worrying the studio.
Disney hoped to ride on the popularity of Moana. Quite the opposite happened.
The live-action remake of the 2016 classic made $43 million in 3,827 US theaters for its first weekend in North America, a score well below the studio’s expectations, which was targeting between 60 and 65 million.
Moana certainly takes first place at the US box office, but above all marks one of the worst launches in the history of live-action Disney remakes. Internationally, the finding is just as worrying: only 52 million additional dollars, for a global start-up of 95 million.
A result all the more worrying given that the film cost around $250 million to produce, excluding marketing expenses. According to American specialists, Moana could become one of the studio’s biggest recent financial failures.
The remake now finds itself neck and neck with Snow Whitereleased in 2025, which opened to 42 million dollars before ending its career at only 205 million worldwide. If Moana follows the same trajectory, Disney could lose nearly $100 million on its theatrical operation.
This poor performance illustrates the difficulties encountered by Disney with its remake strategy. Only ten years separate this new version of the original animated film, and less than two years have passed since the release of Moana 2. For many analysts, the public simply did not have time to develop the nostalgia that fueled the enormous successes of the Lion KingofAladdinor more recently, Lilo and Stitchall of whom became billionaires at the global box office.
Behind, Minions and Monsters adds $20.5 million in its second weekend (-45%). The spin-off has now grossed $108 million in the United States and $280 million worldwide. Despite a lackluster start for the franchise, its budget limited to 85 million should allow it to remain profitable.
Toy Story 5 continues its excellent run with an additional 18.5 million for its fourth weekend. The film has now grossed $403.8 million in North America and $879.1 million worldwide. The billion dollars clearly seems within reach.
Another novelty, Evil Dead Burn debuted in fourth place with $13.7 million in the United States and $27 million worldwide. A launch lower than expectations, but relatively solid for a production with a budget of only 20 million. This new opus of the saga directed by Frenchman Sébastien Vanicek begins less well than Evil Dead Rise in April 2023 ($24.5 million).
Finally, independent comedy The Invitedirected by Olivia Wilde, took advantage of its national expansion to collect $5.7 million this weekend, bringing its American cumulative total to 7.3 million.
