A Live-Action Moana Movie Simply Makes Sense For Disney And The Rock – Here's Why

When Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" hit theaters in 2010, it was hard to imagine it would be as monumental as it ended up being. Yet, Burton's reimagining of the Disney classic in live-action proved to be a $1 billion hit at a time when crossing the $1 billion mark at the box office was exceptionally rare. In the decade and change since, Disney has reimagined several classics with varying degrees of success. Now? The studio is aiming to capitalize twice on more recent films, beginning with a live-action take on 2016's "Moana."

Yesterday, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson confirmed in a flashy video that a live-action version of the Oscar-winning animated film is on the way and is in very early development. A press release implied that Johnson will star in the film, though very little else has been revealed at this time. What this news does reveal, however, is quite a bit about Disney's strategy in the coming years, and perhaps where Johnson is in his career right now. In both cases, for as much as fans of "Moana" may roll their eyes at this prospect, it is a move that makes a great deal of business sense.

Before diving into the specific motivations that Disney and The Rock have on a larger level, it's worth looking at just how well these live-action remakes/reimaginings have performed over the years. To put it bluntly, they have pretty much never failed; at worst, maybe they didn't hit the very high bar Disney had established for itself in this arena. The highest of high bars came in 2019 with "The Lion King." Though technically animated, the photorealistic take on the classic animated tale grossed a staggering $1.65 billion, making it one of the highest-grossing movies of all time despite mixed reviews from critics at the time.

"Beauty and the Beast" also sailed to more than $1.2 billion in 2017, while "The Jungle Book" also cleared that coveted $1 billion mark in 2016 — the same year "Moana" came out and grossed a hugely impressive $682 million. Even on the low end, "Pete's Dragon" may have only earned $143 million, but it also garnered rave reviews and only cost $65 million to produce. Other perceived misfires such as "Mulan" and "Cruella" can easily be chalked up to bad timing due to the pandemic. By and large, these movies have worked like gangbusters time and time again.

The only legitimate flop in the bunch is "Alice Through the Looking Glass," which earned just $290 million against a monster $170 million budget. Tim Burton's "Dumbo" also didn't perform terribly well, making $353 million against a similar budget. Still, if that's the low bar, in modern Hollywood, that's pretty damn good. It's easy to see how this strategy has become a license to print money at times, even though critical reactions and online groaning seemingly hasn't been on Disney's side.

That is key as Disney is in a major time of transition, with the company losing a lot of ground on Wall Street under former CEO Bob Chapek, who took over just ahead of the pandemic. Now, Bob Iger is back in charge for a couple of years, and his job is to get the Mouse House back in order. Iger laid out his plans earlier this year, and it's all about leaning into franchises. Case in point: We're also getting "Toy Story" and "Zootopia" sequels. Again, those are good business decisions.

From a financial perspective, it doesn't matter that "Moana" isn't even ten years old — though it will likely be about a decade between the original and the live-action remake by the time it actually comes together. If there's an audience for it, the movie will happen. Period. And based on the numbers, we have every reason to believe there will be an audience for it. That is also a key thing for Dwayne Johnson right now, who absolutely needs a sure thing after what happened with "Black Adam."

In short, Johnson tried to take over the DC Universe, and that takeover failed spectacularly. It damaged his image a bit, and as a result, he needs surefire hits that can make him look bankable and good in the public eye. As un-sexy as it may seem, this project checks those boxes. Whether or not it is a good idea creatively, a live-action "Moana" has the makings of a hit all over it, and that's why it's happening. It's also why industry scooper Daniel Richtman indicates similar remakes of "Frozen" and "Tangled" are on the way as well, which The Hollywood Reporter's Borys Kit stopped just short of confirming in THR's write-up of the "Moana" news. Nothing is sacred to Disney when there's money to be made.

The live-action "Moana" does not currently have a release date.