Confirmed: Disney’s Live-Action ‘Moana’ Now Buried and Replaced

Industry analysts entering the opening weekend projected Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey (2026) would debut with $85 million to $100 million domestically. Those projections proved conservative by a wide margin.

The film opened to $124.5 million domestically and $264.1 million worldwide, according to Variety. That makes it Nolan’s biggest opening weekend since 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, and the third-largest domestic opening of 2026, trailing only Toy Story 5 (2026) and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026).

The timing could not be worse for Disney’s live-action Moana (2026) remake, which is now buried under the epic Greek myth retelling.

Why The Odyssey Overperformed Every Forecast

Several factors converged to push The Odyssey past its projections. Nolan carried the momentum from Oppenheimer(2023) into this release, and critics and audiences responded with strong word-of-mouth well before the weekend numbers came in.

The film also marked the first feature shot entirely with IMAX cameras, a technical distinction Universal marketed aggressively in the months leading up to release. Advance ticket sales were already running hot, and none of it was undercut by the film’s commercial risk factors: an R rating, a nearly three-hour runtime, and serious historical-epic subject matter that typically caps mainstream box-office ceilings.

Instead, The Odyssey positioned itself as a must-see theatrical event, the kind of release that pulls people who do not typically go to the movies into a theater specifically for the format.

IMAX and Premium Formats Powered the Record Launch

“Premium large formats contributed a massive 53% of the film’s domestic tally, with IMAX accounting for $51.8 million (or 23%) of global ticket sales,” Variety noted. 70mm IMAX showings sold out well in advance, with audiences traveling significant distances to see the film in its intended format.

For a vacation planner or box office-minded reader, the takeaway is straightforward: premium-format demand, not just overall audience turnout, was one of the biggest contributors to this launch. That distinction matters because it directly explains what happened to Moana next.

Disney’s Moana Was Already Struggling Before The Odyssey Arrived

The live-action Moana remake–which stars Catherine Laga’aia as Moana and Dwayne Johnson as Maui–opened to approximately $43 million over its three-day weekend and roughly $47.5 million across its four-day launch domestically, and $95 million globally, against an estimated production budget of $200 million to $250 million before marketing costs.

The comparison to Moana 2 (2024) is brutal. That animated sequel opened to $389 million globally and eventually surpassed $1 billion worldwide. The gap between those numbers and the live-action remake’s debut underscores how much ground the franchise has lost in just two years.

Critical Reception Compounds the Damage

Moana‘s Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score settled at 36% upon its opening weekend (at the time of this publication, the critics’ score now sits at 31%, with audiences rating it 89%), below even Disney’s Snow White (2025), which landed at 39%. That makes the Moana remake Disney’s lowest-rated theatrical live-action adaptation to date.

Weak reviews limited positive word of mouth heading into the film’s second weekend, right as it was set to lose its most valuable real estate: premium auditoriums.

The Odyssey Takes Over Premium Screens From Moana

Disney had hoped for roughly a 55% second-weekend decline for Moana, landing around $20 million domestically. Even before actual second-weekend results were reported, analysts had already warned that losing IMAX and PLF screens would meaningfully cap the film’s earning potential, since premium ticket pricing had been an important revenue driver during opening week. Per Box Office Mojo, Moana dropped 58.4% in its second weekend, netting just $17.9 million domestically.

That warning played out exactly as predicted. Universal reclaimed virtually all IMAX and premium large-format screens for The Odyssey‘s release, and Moana lost access to its highest-grossing auditoriums just seven days into its theatrical run. The format transition effectively capped the remake’s ability to maximize ticket sales as audience demand shifted toward Nolan’s film.

What This Means for Disney’s Bottom Line

The combination of a soft opening, poor reviews, the loss of premium formats, and direct competition from The Odysseyhas analysts projecting Disney could lose millions of dollars on the Moana remake if current theatrical trends hold. That figure adds to growing scrutiny of Disney’s live-action remake strategy following Snow White‘s own underwhelming run.

The Broader Box Office Picture

The Odyssey delivered one of 2026’s strongest theatrical weekends and reinforced the continued value of premium, IMAX-exclusive theatrical experiences, another win for exhibitors following Oppenheimer‘s run in 2023.

The contrast between the two films tells two very different stories. Christopher Nolan exceeded already-lofty expectations with a near-career-best opening weekend. Disney’s Moana, meanwhile, entered a far more difficult phase of its theatrical run just as its premium screens, and much of its box office momentum, shifted elsewhere.

What This Means for You

• If you’re planning to see The Odyssey in IMAX, Expect continued sellouts, especially for 70mm showings. Book tickets as far in advance as possible, and consider matinee showtimes if evening slots are gone in your market.
• If you were hoping to catch Moana in premium format, Standard screens are now your primary option in most theaters, since IMAX and PLF auditoriums have shifted to The Odyssey. Check your local theater’s format listings before heading out.
• If you’re tracking Disney’s live-action remake strategy: This is now the second consecutive live-action remake (after Snow White) to underperform critically and commercially, a pattern worth watching as Disney’s upcoming remake slate moves forward.
• If you’re a box office or industry follower: The Odyssey‘s IMAX-driven success reinforces a broader 2026 trend of premium-format exclusivity determining a film’s second-weekend fate, not just its opening numbers.

What are your thoughts on Disney’s live-action remake strategy? Let us know in the comments down below!