Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson recently appeard on a live recording of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, which recently took place at Chapman University in Orange County in front of film students.
The wrestler-turned-actor shared insider details about his rise through wrestling and his transition into acting and while doing so, shared an exciting update on one of Disney's major upcoming live-action adaptation projects.
According to The Rock. filming on the live-action Moana adaptation has recently wrapped, nearly 8 months ahead of its current July 10, 2026 release date.
"Playing Maui has been the gift of a lifetime. Growing up as a Samoan — half Samoan and half black — in Samoan culture, Polynesian culture? We’re proud people. Proud of our culture. And what Moana has represented is a really awesome global embrace of Polynesian culture, our values and our qualities and our pride and our mana," said the Fast and Furious actor to the students in the crowd.
He continued, "Today’s Tuesday. Just this past Friday, around 8:00 pm, we officially wrapped the live-action version of Moana, so we can’t wait. This upcoming summer, you guys will see live-action Moana, and it’s going to be pretty cool. I spent an entire week shooting “You’re Welcome,” and the singing and the choreography is crazy. [Students whoop with excitement, urging him to sing it.] No, no, no, you’re not ready for that. No, you’re not ready. [Johnson sings “You’re Welcome” and the students go wild.]"
Previously discussing the live-action Moana movie, the Rock teased, "Lin Manuel Miranda's coming back. We're doing the music. Tommy Kail is our director, who directed Hamilton. You put everybody together and you want to put the best team together and then you really go for it."
While the Rock is reprising his role as Maui, newcomer Catherine Laga‘aia will portray the titular Disney heroine as Auliʻi Cravalho is now far too old. There are unconfirmed rumors that Cravalho will portray the physical manifestation of Te Fiti.
Other cast members include John Tui as Chief Tui, Rena Owen as Gramma Tala, and Frankie Adams as Sina.
The live-action Moana movie follows the live-action Lilo & Stitch film, which is currently the #2 top grossing global film of 2025 behind Ne Zha 2. The live-action Moana film is rumored to be followed by live-action versions of Tangled and Hercules.