Disney has always been synonymous with its animated blockbusters, which are available to stream with a Disney+ subscription. One of the most recent megahits was Moana, which recently made its way to Epcot. There were plans for a live-action version of this story, before Disney shocked the public by revealing Moana 2 would hit theaters this November. And after that, Dwayne Johnson recently shared some thrilling tidbits about the live-action Moana movie.
The Rock voices the demigod Maui in Moana, fans hope to see him reprise his role in both the sequel and live-action adaptation. While Johnson reportedly isn't a done-deal for the animated sequel, he recently spoke to ET about bringing the story from animation to live-action, offering:
One of the exciting things about that was actually finding our Moana and how exciting that has been. The global search to find our Moana -- which -- between you and I, we found her -- not gonna tell you yet. [It's] very exciting.
Well, that's intriguing. When the live-action Moana was announced, it was revealed that actress Auli'i Cravalho won't be reprising her role as the title character, although she will be an executive producer. And while The Rock was careful not to reveal who is taking on the mantle, the search for the new Moana is seemingly almost completed.
While a Moana TV show was originally planned, it now seems like the two movies will continue the burgeoning franchise's story. What is clear is that Disney is all in on Moana as a brand, and so are fans.
Moana 2 will feature some changes from the original, including new songwriters taking on the mantle from Lin-Manuel Miranda. They have some big shoes to fill, and not everyone was pleased about this change. But later in his same interview with ET, Johnson revealed that the Hamilton visionary is involved in the live-action Moana, saying:
Lin-Manuel Miranda's coming back. We're doing the music. Tommy Kail is our director, who directed Hamilton .You put everybody together and you want to put the best team together and then you really go for it.
There you have it. While Miranda seemingly won't be be apart of Moana 2, he's still got a role in the franchise as a whole. And it should be fascinating to see how the water-based movie is translate into live-action-- especially giant figures like Te Fiti and Te Kā. And fans will be psyched to see their favorite musical numbers once again on the big screen-- albeit with a twist.
Moana 2 is currently set to arrive in theaters on November 27th, and the live-action movie doesn't currently have a release date since its still being developed. Check out the 2024 movie release dates to plan your other trips to the theater this year.
