Walt Disney Studios' Moana debuted at the top of the domestic box office this weekend, but the live-action version of the heroic Polynesian princess movie didn't do as well as its animated predecessor.
Moana, starring Australian actress Catherine Laga'aia in the title role and Dwayne Johnson as the infamous demigod Maui, was a nearly shot-for-shot remake of Disney's 2016 animated hit. Some projected that it could bring in about $52 million in domestic ticket sales.
Instead, it opened with an estimated $43 million in domestic ticket sales and $52 million internationally, for a worldwide take of $95 million, according to Rentrak.
The original Moana had a $175 million budget and grossed $56.6 million its opening weekend in November 2016. It went on to gross $248.8 million domestically, and $643.3 million worldwide, according to studio-reported totals.
Moana 2 , which was made for $150 million, sold $139.8 million domestically when it opened in November 2024. It grossed $460.4 million in domestic box office, and $1.06 billion worldwide.
"The biggest factor at play here for Moana is that it entered a very crowded family film marketplace with Toy Story 5, also from Disney, still a formidable competitor even four weeks into its run, and Minions & Monsters actually held up quite well in weekend 2, so you've got three PG-rated family films in the top 5," said Paul Dergarabedian, Rentrak's head of marketplace trends.
Moana and this weekend's other movies sold an estimated $125 million at the U.S. and Canadian box office, 35.3% below last year's weekend box office. Last year, Warner Bros. and James Gunn's Superman opened with more than $125 million domestically and $200 million worldwide.
Still, Hollywood's box office is enjoying an extraordinarily strong run, with an estimated $5.15 billion in box office revenue this year through July 12, up 10.6% from the same point in 2025. Ticket sales hit the $5 billion mark on July 8, the earliest in the calendar that revenue has hit that mark since 2019, according to Rentrak.
Summer box office since May 1 is $2.52 billion, up 6.8% from the same point in 2025.
"Time will tell if over the next few weeks audiences looking to catch up on their family moviegoing come out to see Moana in greater numbers," Dergarabedian said. "There might be a bit of oversaturation in this marketplace for those PG-rated family films."
In second place, Universal's Minions & Monsters, which opened a week ago, sold an estimated $20.5 million this weekend, bringing its domestic total to $108.3 million, and its worldwide take to $280 million, according to Rentrak.
In third, Pixar Animation Studios' Toy Story 5, which opened June 19, sold another $18.5 million this weekend, bringing its domestic take to $403.8 million.
Warner Bros.' Evil Dead Burn, an R-rated horror mystery, debuted in fourth place with $13.7 million. Its trailer that "made grown adults shriek in terror when it was shown at CinemaCon, featuring a scene that will make you never want to go near your dishwasher again," Dergarabedian said.
"This is the calm before the storm that is The Odyssey, a film that looms large on the horizon prepping to hit big screens later this week," Dergarabedian said. Although May and June each surpassed more than $1 billion in domestic box office, July is relying heavily on The Odyssey, along with a baker's dozen of films opening on the 24th, to "right the ship and give July a shot at box office greatness," he said.
Christopher Nolan's retelling of Homer's Odyssey, which has notched the highest-selling presold IMAX tickets of all time since it's the first film shot entirely with IMAX 70mm film cameras, opens on Friday.
It's widely expected to be the biggest movie this month. That is, until Sony Pictures' Spider-Man: Brand New Day opens on July 31.
Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 12, 2026 14:27 ET (18:27 GMT)
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