Disney's Live-Action 'Moana' Is Getting Destroyed by Critics — Is Dwayne Johnson's $200M Remake Already Dead in the Water?

Disney's Live-Action 'Moana' Is Getting Destroyed by Critics — Is Dwayne Johnson's $200M Remake Already Dead in the Water?

It's July 10, 2026, and Disney's live-action Moana remake is officially in theaters — but the reviews are already sinking faster than a ship without a sail. With a 30% Rotten Tomatoes score at debut and critics calling it everything from a "shot-by-shot copy" to a "craven, cynical cash grab," the question everyone's asking is simple: Why did Disney even make this?

A Scene-by-Scene Copy With Nothing New to Offer

The most common complaint? The 2026 live-action Moana barely distinguishes itself from the beloved 2016 animated original. Critics from Deadline, The Wall Street Journal, and The Playlist all echo the same sentiment — director Thomas Kail (of Hamilton fame) seemingly hit copy-paste instead of reimagine. The film uses a blend of live-action and CGI that, according to early viewers, "doesn't feel much different from the animated version" — except now the VFX looks shoddy and the ocean sequences, the heart of the Moana franchise, have somehow gotten worse.

One review from The Playlist went particularly hard, calling it "a craven, cynical, unnecessary cash grab" — which, honestly, is exactly how a lot of millennials feel about Disney's endless live-action remake pipeline. After The Little Mermaid (2023), Mufasa (2024), and Lilo & Stitch (2025), the fatigue is real.

But Wait — The Cast Is Actually Good

Here's the weird part: amidst all the criticism, Dwayne Johnson as Maui and newcomer Catherine Lagaʻaia as Moana are getting genuine praise. Johnson reportedly pushed back against claims that the remake came "too soon" after the original, defending the project as a way to bring Pacific Islander culture to a wider audience. And Lagaʻaia, a 17-year-old Australian actress of Samoan descent, brings authentic energy that critics say is one of the film's few bright spots. The soundtrack — featuring new contributions from Opetaia Foaʻi and the returning Lin-Manuel Miranda — also scored positive mentions.

But good performances don't save a $200 million movie that's projected to open at just $45–60 million domestically. If those numbers hold, Moana could join the ranks of Disney's biggest box office misfires — right alongside Mulan (2020) and Elemental (2023).

So is Moana dead in the water? Not entirely — Johnson's star power and the brand's global reach might keep it treading water. But for millennials who grew up on the 2016 animated classic, this remake feels like exactly what we feared: a beautiful story told again, but worse. Sometimes the ocean just doesn't call you back for a second voyage.