Disney's Live-Action MOANA Gets a #1 Streaming Debut Despite Its Box Office Flop

Disney’s 2016 animated feature Moana was (and is) a huge success for the studio, with fans watching and rewatching the film, and enjoying the original music and merchandise.

So of course Disney decided to expand the franchise with a sequel to the animated film in 2024, as well as a live-action remake this summer. This seemed to flood the market with a little more Moana than fans cared for, and after the solid success of the animated sequel, the live-action film bombed at the box office.

With Dwayne Johnson leading the film as the only actor to cross over from the animated original to the live-action character Maui, he took a lot of the film’s promotion upon himself, and the disappointing numbers were hard on him.

But all the work poured into the remake may have finally paid off, as Moana was released to streaming on Disney+ last week, and it quickly took the #1 spot on the platform.

This could easily be attributed to the fact that ever since the pandemic, families are enjoying more movies at home, as well as the time we are in, when things are more expensive, and cutting the cost of extracurricular activities is a necessary sacrifice many have to make.

So all the people who didn’t want to drag a toddler to the theatre or pay for an entire family to see a movie are now able to watch the film for the price of their subscription at home.

Hopefully fans do enjoy it, and maybe we will see more films get a quicker turnaround from theatre release to at-home viewing.