{"id":921132,"date":"2026-07-08T15:37:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T15:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/921132\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T15:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T15:37:15","slug":"moana-box-office-opening-weekend-projections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/921132\/","title":{"rendered":"Moana Box Office Opening Weekend Projections"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cMoana<\/a>\u201d might be heading for choppy waters at the box office.<\/p>\n

\n\tSome tracking services are estimating that Disney\u2019s live-action version of the animated musical will debut to $60 million to $65 million from 3,875 North American theaters. Those ticket sales are just barely above the original 2016 adventure, which opened to $56 million, not adjusted for inflation. However, others are predicting an even softer start of $35 million to $40 million, which would be catastrophic given that \u201cMoana\u201d carries a massive $250 million production budget \u2014 and that\u2019s before the studio\u2019s hefty global marketing spend is taken into account.<\/p>\n

\n\tOverseas audiences could be key in the box office success of \u201cMoana,\u201d which is projected to earn $70 million to $75 million in its debut at the international box office. <\/p>\n

\n\tDomestically, though, \u201cMoana\u201d is tracking as one of the lower openings in terms of Disney\u2019s live-action remakes. It could join the company of 2019\u2019s \u201cDumbo\u201d ($45 million) and 2025\u2019s \u201cSnow White\u201d ($42 million), both of which became box office losers against hefty production budgets. By comparison, the studio\u2019s adaptations of \u201cLilo & Stitch,\u201d \u201cThe Lion King\u201d and \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d each debuted above $100 million.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMoana\u201d is sailing to theaters a decade after the original oceanic-set musical and a short two years after the sequel, which became a billion-dollar smash. The first film ended its theatrical run with $680 million. Then, with supremely catchy songs like \u201cHow Far I\u2019ll Go\u201d and \u201cYou\u2019re Welcome,\u201d \u201cMoana\u201d exploded in popularity on Disney+ and remains one of the most-watched streaming titles of all time. A follow-up was originally developed as a television series before Disney opted to retool the project into a feature film. That decision proved wise: The sequel premiered around Thanksgiving with a staggering $225 million over five days (and $139 million over the traditional weekend) before powering to $1.059 billion worldwide.<\/p>\n

\n\tOver the last decade, Disney\u2019s various live-action remakes have delivered mixed results. Last year\u2019s \u201cLilo & Stitch\u201d crossed $1 billion, a milestone that was especially lucrative for the studio since the film cost a relatively modest $100 million. Other billion-dollar earners include 2019\u2019s \u201cAladdin,\u201d 2017\u2019s \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d and 2019\u2019s \u201cThe Lion King,\u201d while 2016\u2019s \u201cThe Jungle Book\u201d was pretty close with $967 million. Disney\u2019s sweet spot seems to be revisiting movies from the \u201990s and early 2000s. The studio has misfired when reaching too far back in the vault, \u00e0 la \u201cDumbo\u201d (1941) and \u201cSnow White\u201d (1937). A remake of 2010\u2019s \u201cTangled\u201d is in the works with Kathryn Hahn as the villainous Mother Gothel.<\/p>\n

\n\tDirected by Thomas Kail (\u201cHamilton\u201d), \u201cMoana\u201d revolves around the strong-willed daughter of a village chief, who is chosen by the ocean to restore prosperity to her island. Newcomer Catherine Laga\u2019aia stars as Moana while Dwayne Johnson reprises his role from the animated series as the tattooed demigod Maul, who helps the Polynesian heroine on her journey. <\/p>\n

\n\tThis weekend also sees the release of \u201cEvil Dead Burn<\/a>,\u201d which is aiming for $15 million to $20 million from 4,000 theaters. The supernatural horror film is the sixth entry in Warner Bros. and New Line\u2019s \u201cEvil Dead\u201d franchise, which began with Sam Raimi\u2019s low-budget 1981 thriller \u201cThe Evil Dead\u201d and most recently returned to the big screen with 2023\u2019s \u201cEvil Dead Rise.\u201d That film opened to $24 million and ended its run with $147 million globally. A seventh installment, \u201cEvil Dead Wrath,\u201d is already set for 2028.<\/p>\n

\n\tElsewhere, A24\u2019s comedy \u201cThe Invite\u201d is looking to collect $4 million to $5 million while expanding nationwide. The well-reviewed film, directed by Olivia Wilde, has grossed $1.36 million after two weekends in limited release. \u201cThe Invite\u201d centers around a bickering married couple (Wilde and Seth Rogen) who host a dinner party for their free-spirited upstairs neighbors (Pen\u00e9lope Cruz and Edward Norton).<\/p>\n

\n\tHoldover titles will round out box office charts, with last weekend\u2019s champ, Universal\u2019s \u201cMinions & Monsters,\u201d expected to add $17 million to $22 million in its sophomore outing and Disney\u2019s \u201cToy Story 5\u201d aiming for $18 million to $20 million in its fourth weekend of release. <\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, movie theater owners are patiently waiting for two behemoths, Christopher Nolan\u2019s \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d (July 17) and \u201cSpider-Man: Brand New Day\u201d (July 31), to close out the month with a bang.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cMoana\u201d might be heading for choppy waters at the box office. Some tracking services are estimating that Disney\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":921133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[28],"tags":[171,223458,17824,53,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-921132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-evil-dead-burn","tag-moana","tag-movies","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}