A remake of Moana is on the 2026 movie schedule for this summer, marking the newest of Disney Animated movies to get the live-action treatment yet. Now, the new movie’s director has shared his thoughts on why he thinks the 2016 movie deserves to be retold already.
Thomas Kail, who famously helmed Hamilton (on-stage and the version on Disney+), is the filmmaker behind the live-action Moana movie. While he said he knows the original film “is in people’s molecules”, he explained why he took on the live-action challenge with these words:
How do you honor this? How do you say 'we love it too' and make it something that can be a companion and not try to be the same thing, but also trust what works? The opportunity to have flesh and blood and have human beings tell the story and sing these songs and be in this world, there's something so fundamentally different about that experience of watching and feeling that.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kail communicated that he was excited by the idea of human actors retelling the story of the movie despite the comparisons between the beloved animated original being inevitable. The movie sees Dwayne Johnson reprising his role of Maui in 40 pounds of prosthetics and newcomer Catherine Lagaʻaia (who is currently 19) as Moana.
Article continues belowDwayne Johnson has said that he was personally excited to play the character again for a different medium as a chance to “showcase our Polynesian culture” while also communicating that he’s aware how “good” the original is and wanting to be “protective” of that. The Rock has also said that the live-action film was representing Polynesian culture “in every department,” including “some department heads, story, development,” and so forth.
Earlier this week, the biggest look at the new Moana movie was released, showing off a peek at a ton of the modern classic’s greatest moments. You can check out the latest trailer below:
The trailer has clearly made a big splash, given it already has 5 million views, but there’s been a lot of negative reactions over it – Weird Al even took a shot at The Rock’s wig! Much like the commentary that came out when the first footage for the live-action Moana dropped, with fans asking “why did we need this?” and even likening it to “an SNL skit”.
It’s the job of Thomas Kail (and the other filmmakers) to prove audiences wrong and show people that the movie is worth the price of admission. So far, most live-action Disney remakes have been huge commercial wins for the House of Mouse, with remakes for Lilo & Stitch, The Lion King, The Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin and Alice in Wonderland making over $1 billion each at the worldwide box office. It’s hard to argue with those numbers!
You can see Moana only in theaters on July 10.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
