The live-action remake of "Moana" has opened to a disappointing $43 million across 3,827 North American cinemas, and although this was enough to top the box office charts, it represents one of the weakest debuts among Disney's live-action reworkings. The result is a significant setback given the film's substantial $250 million production budget, before marketing costs are taken into account, and it highlights the difficulty Disney faces in timing such remakes: revisit a title too late and it lacks cultural resonance, but return too soon and there is insufficient nostalgia to draw audiences back.

Internationally the film fared similarly poorly, taking $52 million for a global launch of $95 million, well short of Disney's projected $60–65 million domestic and $140 million global figures. The opening now rivals 2025's "Snow White" ($42 million debut) for the lowest among Disney's live-action remakes, and analysts suggest "Moana" could lose the studio around $100 million during its theatrical run. This contrasts sharply with successes such as "Lilo & Stitch", "The Lion King", "Aladdin" and "Beauty and the Beast", which each opened above $100 million and crossed $1 billion, with the article suggesting Disney may have moved too quickly to remake a film only a decade old and released as an animation in 2016.