Disney's Moana remake breaks a huge rule when it comes to the studio's live-action reimaginings. Released in 2016, Moana immediately became one of Disney's most popular animated movies of the 21st century. The financial and critical success of the film left audiences wanting more from the world, something Disney planned to do with a new animated series. But, there have also been questions about when, not if, a live-action Moana remake could happen. Thanks to an announcement by Dwayne Johnson in April 2023, the Moana live-action remake movie is officially in the works at Disney with The Rock returning as Maui.
There are still a lot of details that are not known about the new version of Moana, but the film becomes the latest example of Disney's interest in doing live-action remakes of their most beloved animated films. The studio's history of remaking its animated films goes back to the 1990s, but they became much more common since 2010. Moana now will look to join a growing list of animated remakes at Disney, such as massive hits like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. Even though a live-action Moana remake might have been expected to come at some point, the timing of the announcement is very different.
Moana Is Happening WAY Sooner Than Disney's Other Live-Action Remakes
The confirmation that Moana's live-action remake is happening comes less than seven years after the original animated movie debuted in theaters. Disney has traditionally waited decades to remake its animated movies in live-action. It will easily make Moana the shortest gap between the original animated movie and the live-action remake, even if Disney's announcement did not come with an official release date. Mulan previously held the record for the shortest gap with 22 years separating the celebrated animated film and the 2020 version of Mulan. As long as the Moana reimagining comes out by 2037, it will take the record.
Even beyond that, the average Disney live-action remake takes much longer than how quickly Moana's remake is happening. Disney typically waits around 50 years to remake its animated movies. The gap has shortened a bit with some more recent entries in the genre, but even then the studio has usually allowed at least two decades to pass before introducing audiences to a new version of the story. Depending on how quickly the live-action Moana remake happens at Disney, it might barely be one decade from the original's release that the reimagining starring The Rock and possibly Auli'i Cravalho hits theaters.
Why Moana's Live-Action Remake Is Happening So Quickly
There appear to be two primary reasons that Disney is acting so swiftly to remake Moana. The first is that the studio's approach to live-action remakes of animated movies has already resulted in many of the marquee and classic titles being remade. Since this strategy has been quite lucrative for Disney, the studio has now turned its attention to more modern hits, such as Moana. There are still other older Disney animated movies that could receive live-action remakes, but the company also likely knows that tackling more recent films could be extremely profitable if done correctly with the right titles.
As for why Disney chose Moana to test the waters with remaking modern animated movies, it is likely thanks to the film's continued popularity. Streaming figures released by Nieslen in 2021 revealed that Moana was the second most-watched movie on Disney+ that year. The film still has a strong cultural footprint thanks to its memorable soundtrack and is still clearly in high demand among families. For those reasons, the live-action Moana remake happening so quickly makes sense, and now it is up to Disney to do it right.