MOANA Live-Action Remake Director Explains Why It Exists, Other Than Disney's Obvious Cash Grab
Disney is still on its remake grind, and this time it’s Moana getting the live-action treatment. Shocking, right? Another beloved animated hit turned into a real-world spectacle.
If you’re already rolling your eyes and muttering, “because money,” you’re not alone. But according to director Thomas Kail, there’s a bit more going on here than just Disney backing up a truck full of cash.
Kail, who’s stepping into his first narrative feature after making a name for himself on Broadway, recently opened up about why he wanted to tackle this remake. And to his credit, he’s at least aiming for something a little more meaningful than just rehashing a hit.
“I think there are lots of reasons,” he said, adding, “One of the core reasons was the opportunity to preserve and try to take the culture of the Pacific Islands and put it in a photo-real world.
“The original Moana and Moana 2 communicated so much about the culture to so many millions of people. And with live action, hopefully you’ll get all the people that watch the animated film, and also some folks that might say, ‘Animation is not for me, but I’ll step into this experience.'”
He is looking to bring the Polynesian culture from this story into a different format, and reach people who weirdly refuse to watch animation, and expand the audience. Fair enough. Though, let’s be honest, the original film already did a pretty incredible job of that without needing a live-action remake.
Kail also leaned into the idea that live-action changes the emotional texture of the story, especially when it comes to danger and scale.
“That was something we thought about a lot – how do we use that opportunity? The sense of danger when you see Catherine, this teenager, in the middle of this storm, it feels different when it’s a person inhabiting that.
“And so I think the sense of adventure and danger feel really heightened in that regard. And none of that takes away from the fun or the entertainment of it, but I think that gives it a beautiful counterbalance to all of the joy that we’re trying to deliver.”
The question is whether “different” equals “better,” or just… more expensive. And speaking of expensive, let’s not pretend the box office numbers didn’t play a role here.
The original Moana pulled in over $643 million worldwide, and Moana 2 cranked that up past the $1 billion mark. Those numbers are basically a giant neon sign screaming “MAKE ANOTHER ONE.”
So yeah, Kail can talk about cultural preservation and immersive storytelling all he wants, and those are valid creative goals. But Disney didn’t greenlight this project out of pure artistic curiosity. This is a studio that knows exactly what it’s doing when it revisits a billion-dollar franchise.
Still, there’s at least some reason to be curious. The film stars Catherine Laga’aia as Moana, with Dwayne Johnson returning as Maui, and he looks really weird in the role.
If Kail can actually deliver on that promise of heightened adventure while respecting what made the original special, maybe this won’t just feel like a copy-paste job with better lighting. But, judging from the trailer that was released, this is basically a shot-for-shot remake.
The live-action Moana is set to hit theaters on July 10, 2026.