Currently, Moana 2 is tracking for a $125-$135 million domestic opening during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S.
That's quite the impressive figure, especially given the fact that Moana 2 was originally developed as a Disney+ television series before being reworked for a theatrical release.
To keep the momentum going, Walt Disney Animation has released two new character posters, featuring the titular heroine and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's muscular demigod hero, Maui.
In his feature film debut, David G. Derrick Jr. (Raya and the Last Dragon-storyboard artist, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes-storyboard artist) wrote the script and is also directing.
In atypicall fashion, Moana 2 was produced at Walt Disney Animation Studios' Vancouver facility rather than its Burbank site.
In other Moana news, a live-action film is also in development with the Rock set to also play Maui. Given her age, Auliʻi Cravalho will not be playing Moana in the live-action remake but fans are campaigning to have her play the goddess Te Fiti.
In regards to the global casting search, Johnson teased, "One of the exciting things about that was actually finding our Moana and how exciting that has been. The global search to find our Moana -- which -- between you and I, we found her -- not gonna tell you yet. [It's] very exciting."
After concluding the global search, it was announced on June 12, 2024, that newcomer Catherine Laga‘aia had secured the highly coveted role as one of the most popular, new Disney princesses of recent times.
Released in 2016, Moana went on to gross $682 million worldwide from a production budget of $150 million. It's also one of the most popular streaming titles on Disney+.
The live-action Moana movie was originally slated for release on June 27, 2025 but was pushed back to July 10, 2026, due to the release of Moana 2.
Moana 2 Synopsis:
After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced. The sequel is set three years after the events of the first film.