Is there any truth to the theory that the release of Moana 2 and its middling quality is partly to blame for the poor box office of the live action remake?
Title. I've seen this floated and I think there is some merit to the idea.
For those unaware, Moana 2 literally did not exist while the live action Moana was in production. After Wish bombed in late 2023, WDAS found themselves in the position of having to "prove themselves" financially, so they shelved an upcoming original and rushed to turn the upcoming Disney+ Moana show into a theatrical sequel. Obviously it paid off financially (chiefly due to brand recognition and insane streaming numbers for the first movie), but the quality took a hit as a result. In essence they sacrificed a bit of storytelling integrity to guarantee they could cash out in Thanksgiving 2024 after a string of flops.
Moana 2 had a lot of eyes on it, as its box office attests to, so the remake coming so soon afterwards just enhances the IP saturation further. Had it not existed as a "panic move" film, could there have been more of an appetite to revisit the franchise among general audiences?
Posted Jul 10, 2026, 7:27 PM UTC