{"id":2039895,"date":"2026-07-12T18:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T15:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2039895"},"modified":"2026-07-12T18:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T15:06:07","slug":"moana-makes-underwhelming-splash-at-box-office-with-43-million-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2039895","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Moana\u2019 Makes Underwhelming Splash at Box Office With $43 Million Opening"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/moana-premiere-2026-billboard-1800.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThe Walt Disney Company\u2019s live-action\u00a0Moana<\/em>\u00a0may be the No. 1 movie at the domestic box office, but it did not make a big splash in its first weekend in theaters.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tOpetaia Foa\u2018i Calls Adding \u2018Authenticity\u2019 to \u2018Moana\u2019 Through Pacific Island Languages \u2018A Huge\u00a0Win\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tTaylor Swift Joins Travis Kelce at His Former Teammate\u2019s Wedding One Week After Their Own\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThe movie, which cost a reported $250 million to produce, earned just $43 million from ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday (July 12).<\/p>\n

\n\tInternationally, it earned $52 million from 50 markets, adding up to a $95 million global debut.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe studio bet big on Moana<\/em>, one of its most popular franchises. The 2016 animated film is the most watched movie on Disney+. Its sequel, which was stitched together from a planned streaming series, made over $1 billion and scored a Thanksgiving record when it opened with $225 million in 2024.\u00a0Moana 2\u00a0<\/em>was also released just 19 months ago.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis latest Moana<\/em>, directed by Thomas Kail, brings Dwayne Johnson back as the demigod Maui and introduces\u00a0Catherine Laga\u02bbaia\u00a0as the adventuring Polynesian princess. Despite praise for Laga\u02bbaia, the film set sail on a wave of dismal reviews from critics for being essentially a shot-for-shot remake of the original.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s currently sitting at a 34% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences, the majority of whom were women (66%), were less negative: According to PostTrak, 63% said they would \u201cdefinitely\u201d recommend the film to their friends. Parent reactions were even stronger, with 78% saying they would recommend it to other parents. It also got a promising A- CinemaScore.<\/p>\n

\n\tDisney\u2019s live action remakes of beloved animated films, new and old, have had their share of successes and disappointments. Some have made over $1 billion, including Lilo & Stitch<\/em>, The Lion King<\/em> and Beauty and the Beast<\/em>. Others have floundered, most notably last year\u2019s Snow White<\/em>, which made only $205 million worldwide.<\/p>\n

\n\tPaul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Rentrak, said Moana<\/em>\u2019s debut could also be a product of PG-rated oversaturation in the marketplace: Universal\u2019s\u00a0Minions & Monsters<\/em>\u00a0was in second place with $20.5 million, and Toy Story 5<\/em> was close behind in third place with $18.5 million.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFamilies love going to the movies, but right now there are three of them,\u201d Dergarabedian said. \u201cThat\u2019s a lot of competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPG-rated films outgrossed others in 2024 and 2025, so Moana<\/em>\u2019s performance may not be a case of \u201cfamily movie fatigue,\u201d he said, but simply shows there can be a ceiling. Families have to make a choice, and after four weekends, Toy Story 5<\/em> is still going strong with a running global total of $879.1 million.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere also are signs that these movies might not sink or swim based on the opening weekend alone. Although Minions & Monsters<\/em> opened below expectations over the Fourth of July holiday, it also had a modest 45% drop this weekend. Its running domestic total is currently sitting at $108.3 million.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe weekend\u2019s other big new opener was definitely not PG: The R-rated horror\u00a0Evil Dead Burn<\/em>,\u00a0a Warner Bros. release, opened to $13.7 million and landed in fourth place.<\/p>\n

\n\tAngel Studios\u2019 George Washington movie Young Washington<\/em> rounded out the top five in its second weekend in theaters, with $6.4 million.<\/p>\n

\"Billboard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/culture\/tv-film\/moana-box-office-opening-disney-1236292593\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/moana-premiere-2026-billboard-1800.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard The Walt Disney Company\u2019s live-action\u00a0Moana\u00a0may be the No. 1 movie at the domestic box office, but it did not make a big splash in its first weekend in theaters. Related Opetaia Foa\u2018i Calls Adding \u2018Authenticity\u2019 to \u2018Moana\u2019 Through Pacific Island Languages \u2018A Huge\u00a0Win\u2019 Squishmallows\u2019 \u2018KPop Demon Hunters\u2019 Collection Features […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2039895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2039895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2039895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2039895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2039895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}