The damage from Disney’s live-action “Moana” is starting to come into focus, and it is severe. Following a $95 million worldwide opening against a reported $250 million production budget, the film is now projected to lose somewhere between $100 million and $125 million, according to Deadline, and that estimate assumes the film still climbs to $250 million at the global box office.
How The Losses Add Up
The math behind a theatrical loss is rarely as simple as comparing gross to budget. Studios split ticket revenue with exhibitors, and marketing a global tentpole adds enormous cost on top of production. Deadline pegs the film’s global marketing spend at an estimated $145 million on top of the $250 million budget, which puts the current trajectory in stark relief.
The opening weekend split tells the story. The film managed roughly $43 million domestically and about $52 million overseas, numbers that place it in genuinely unwelcome company. The debut lands among the weakest for any of Disney’s live-action remakes, barely ahead of the $42.2 million start for 2025’s “Snow White,” a film that carried baggage this one never had.
What Could Still Change
There is one factor worth watching. Audiences who saw the film gave it an A- CinemaScore, a grade that typically signals strong word of mouth and better-than-expected holds in subsequent weeks. With summer break still underway and families looking for options, stronger legs could soften the final number.
Even so, closing a gap this size would take an extraordinary run, and downstream revenue from streaming and home release will likely determine how much of the loss Disney ultimately absorbs. The film arrived under a cloud, as we reported when the live-action Moana opened to the worst reviews in the franchise’s history. You can read Deadline’s full breakdown of the projected losses here.
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