With The Little Mermaid proving to be a massive box office hit over Memorial Day Weekend, Disney has no incentive to slow down any time soon when it comes to live-action remakes of hit animated films, and one project that is moving particularly quickly is Moana. It was less than two months ago that the movie was announced as being in the works (with Dwayne Johnson on board to reprise his role as Maui), and now it officially has someone steering the ship, as Thomas Kail has been brought on to direct.
The news of this hiring comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which notes that while the filmmaker doesn't have a great deal of experience in making feature films, he has some special experience in the world of musicals. He is the Tony Award-winning director of Broadway’s Hamilton, and he has been nominated for multiple Emmys for his work on the shows Fosse/Verdon and Grease Live! It's now the second link that Moana has to Hamilton, as fans will remember that the original songs in the Walt Disney Animation Studios film were written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
As previously announced, the original writer of Moana, Jared Bush, is writing the script for the remake with Dana Ledoux Miller, and in addition to starring in the film, Dwayne Johnson is also producing the project along with his partners Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia at Seven Bucks Productions. Auliʻi Cravalho, who voiced the titular character in the 2016 movie, has said that she will not be back as Moana, but she is also going to be an executive producer.
Moana is presently one of many live-action remakes of Disney animated films that are in various stages of production. Following The Little Mermaid, the next one to come out will be Snow White, which is set to hit theaters on March 22, 2024 and stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot in the lead roles. Like a number of other titles in the works at Disney – including Lilo & Stitch, Hercules, Bambi, and The Aristocats – the live-action Moana does not yet have a release date.
For those of you who are curious about Thomas Kail's skills as a director, you can watch the Emmy-winning recording of Hamilton if you have a Disney+ subscription. And, of course, you can use that same account to watch the animated Moana, which stands up as one of the best Walt Disney Animation Studios films in the last decade.
