Families love going to the movies but right now there are three of them
In the long arc of storytelling, even the most beloved tales can lose their power when retold too faithfully. Disney's live-action Moana opened atop the North American box office this past weekend, yet its $95 million global debut against a $250 million budget speaks to a quiet reckoning the studio now faces: that nostalgia, however potent, is not a strategy unto itself. The film arrives in a crowded summer marketplace where families have choices, and where the difference between a billion-dollar triumph and a cautionary tale may rest less on the story being told than on the courage with which it is reimagined.
- A $250 million production earned just $43 million domestically in its opening weekend — a gap that signals something has gone quietly wrong inside Disney's live-action remake machine.
- Critics eviscerated the film at 34% on Rotten Tomatoes, calling it a shot-for-shot recreation that offered audiences no reason to choose it over the animated original they already love.
- Families showed up and largely approved — 63% would recommend it, parents gave it 78% enthusiasm, and CinemaScore awarded it an A- — yet warm feelings did not translate into the box office momentum Disney needed.
- Three major PG-rated films are simultaneously competing for the same family dollar, with Minions & Monsters and a still-running Toy Story 5 splitting the audience that Moana needed to itself.
- The broader summer box office remains up 10.7% year-over-year, suggesting the market is not broken — it may simply be waiting for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day to arrive and reset the trajectory.
Disney's live-action Moana debuted at number one last weekend, but the numbers carried little comfort. Against a $250 million production budget, the film earned $43 million in North America and $95 million globally — figures that place it uncomfortably close to last year's troubled Snow White remake, which opened at $42.2 million domestically before fading.
The path to this moment seemed logical enough. The original 2016 animated film is Disney's most-streamed title, and its 2024 sequel crossed a billion dollars with a record-breaking Thanksgiving opening. Director Thomas Kail brought back Dwayne Johnson as Maui and cast Catherine Lagaʻaia as Moana, but critics found the film offered little beyond faithful recreation — a choice that earned it a 34% Rotten Tomatoes score. Audiences were gentler: 63% said they would recommend it, parents were even more enthusiastic at 78%, and the film received an A- CinemaScore. Women made up two-thirds of the opening weekend crowd. Goodwill, however, did not become momentum.
Analysts point to a crowded marketplace rather than a collapse in family filmgoing. Universal's Minions & Monsters opened second with $20.5 million, while Toy Story 5 — now in its fourth weekend — held third with $18.5 million and a cumulative global haul approaching $880 million. Families are not staying home; they are simply spreading their spending across multiple options. As one market analyst put it, there are three major family films competing at once, and that is simply a lot of competition.
The domestic box office for the year sits just under $5.2 billion, up nearly 11% from the same point last year, suggesting the market retains its health. July has been the soft spot, but relief may be near — Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey opens next weekend, followed by Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Whether Moana's stumble reflects a flaw in Disney's remake strategy or merely the misfortune of poor timing remains an open question, but the studio's inconsistent record with live-action adaptations — from billion-dollar triumphs like The Lion King to quiet disappointments — suggests the answer may be both.
Disney's live-action Moana opened at the top of the North American box office last weekend, but the numbers told a story of disappointment. The film earned $43 million domestically and $52 million internationally—$95 million globally—against a production budget of $250 million. For a studio that had bet heavily on one of its most recognizable franchises, the result was a sobering reminder that name recognition alone cannot guarantee returns.
The original 2016 animated Moana has become Disney's most-watched film on its streaming service. Its 2024 sequel, assembled from a planned streaming series, crossed the billion-dollar mark and set a Thanksgiving record with a $225 million opening weekend. That success made the live-action adaptation seem like a natural bet. Director Thomas Kail brought back Dwayne Johnson as the demigod Maui and cast Australian actor Catherine Lagaʻaia as the adventuring Polynesian princess. Critics, however, found the film to be essentially a frame-by-frame recreation of the original, a choice that earned it a 34 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Audiences proved less harsh than reviewers. According to PostTrak data, 63 percent of viewers said they would definitely recommend the film to friends, and parents were even more enthusiastic, with 78 percent saying they would suggest it to other families. The film received an A- CinemaScore. Women made up 66 percent of the opening weekend audience. Yet even this qualified approval could not translate into the box office momentum Disney had anticipated.
The film's underperformance mirrors that of last year's live-action Snow White, which opened with $42.2 million domestically and earned $205 million worldwide. Disney's live-action remakes have been inconsistent: some, like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, crossed the billion-dollar threshold, while others have struggled. The company's strategy of adapting its animated catalog has produced both blockbusters and disappointments, and Moana now sits squarely in the latter category.
Market analysts point to a specific culprit: oversaturation of family-oriented films. Three major PG-rated releases are currently competing for the same audience. Universal's Minions & Monsters opened in second place with $20.5 million, while Toy Story 5 claimed third with $18.5 million and a running global total of $879.1 million. Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for Rentrak, noted that families face a genuine choice among multiple options. "Families love going to the movies but right now there are three of them," he said. "That's a lot of competition." Toy Story 5, now in its fourth weekend, continues to hold audience interest, suggesting that families may be spreading their spending across multiple releases rather than concentrating it on any single film.
Dergarabedian cautioned against calling this "family movie fatigue." PG-rated films outgrossed other categories in 2024 and 2025, indicating that families remain willing to visit theaters. Instead, the data suggests there may simply be a ceiling to how much revenue can be divided among competing family films in a single period. The marketplace has room for these movies, but not unlimited room.
The broader box office picture shows some strain. The domestic total for the year now stands just under $5.2 billion, up 10.7 percent from the same point last year. May and June both exceeded $1 billion in North American revenue, but July has faced headwinds, with several underperformers including Supergirl. Relief may arrive soon: Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey opens next week, followed by Spider-Man: Brand New Day the weekend after. These releases could reshape the summer trajectory and potentially power a stronger August than July—an unusual pattern that would suggest the market is simply waiting for the right films rather than suffering from fundamental weakness.
Citas Notables
Families love going to the movies but right now there are three of them. That's a lot of competition.— Paul Dergarabedian, Rentrak marketplace trends analyst
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
A quarter-billion dollars on a live-action remake of a film people already love. What was the thinking there?
Disney saw the 2024 sequel cross a billion dollars. The franchise had proven it could sustain enormous audience interest. But there's a difference between a sequel that extends a story and a remake that essentially repeats it.
The critics were brutal—34 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Did that sink it, or was something else at play?
The reviews mattered, but audiences were actually fairly receptive. Sixty-three percent said they'd recommend it. The real problem was timing and competition. Three major family films opened within weeks of each other, and families had to choose.
So it's not that people don't want to see Moana. It's that they can't see all three at once.
Exactly. Toy Story 5 is still drawing crowds in its fourth weekend. The market isn't rejecting family films—it's just finite. There's only so much money families will spend on theater tickets in a given month.
What does this mean for Disney's remake strategy going forward?
It suggests that name recognition and franchise power have limits. You can't simply remake a beloved film and expect the original's audience to show up twice. You need either a genuinely new story or a reason audiences feel compelled to experience it in theaters rather than waiting for streaming.