Dwayne Johnson On “Moana” Remake Failure

Actor Dwayne Johnson has spoken about the bombing of the recent live-action remake of Disney’s “Moana” in which he starred.

The film has been in cinemas for over four weeks now and has only managed $266 million worldwide so far. While it’s not as bad as “Snow White,” which made $205 million across its entire run, it’s a far cry from the “Moana 2” animated film just a few years back that made over $1 billion worldwide.

“Moana” is an established brand, with all sorts of ancillary revenue streams from merchandise to theme parks, so Disney will recover some income that way. But it’s not a good look for the studio.

Speaking with People, Johnson says:

“Our first two reviews came out. I’ll never forget it. They were amazing. I was like, ‘Wow.’ [Then] it went another way, as sometimes happens. That’s just the way it goes because we’re in this business.

The challenge was, okay, let’s remember, though, what’s going to be beyond this opening weekend. Let’s remember what’s happening right now and the noise that’s happening right now. If you love it, great. If you don’t, no problem.”

He added that what “really mattered” was that “the culture really stood up.”

The film’s financial failure could potentially shake up Disney’s recent approach of sticking to more modern films in its live-action remakes of its animated classics. That approach was reinforced when Tim Burton’s “Dumbo” and Robert Zemeckis’ “Pinocchio” both flopped, David Lowery’s “Peter Pan & Wendy” was sent straight to streaming, and “Cruella” didn’t do as well as hoped despite having some quite good reviews.

Yet “Aladdin” and “The Lion King” made over $1 billion each, and even “Mufasa: The Lion King” overcame a soft start to power onto $723 million. Yes, “The Little Mermaid” underperformed. Yet when last year’s “Snow White” bombed hard while “Lilo & Stitch” made over $1 billion, the approach still seemed justified at the time. Now… who knows.

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