Disney’s been on a roll for roughly a decade now with its live-action remakes/retellings, most of which are based off animated movies that came out decades earlier. And then there’s Moana, which is already getting a remake just seven years after the original was released. As such, there’d been speculation about if Auli’i Cravalho might reprise the title role that launched her acting career. While that won’t be happening, she will be involved with the remake in a different way.
Cravalho set the record straight with an Instagram video, where she shared that while a new actress will be selected to bring Moana to life in this live-action version of the story, she’ll help out with finding her successor as an executive producer on the project. You can read the actress’ full statement below:
When I was cast as Moana at 14, it wonderfully changed my life and started my career. In this live-action retelling, I will not be reprising the role. I believe it is absolutely vital that casting accurately represents the characters and stories we want to tell. So, as an executive producer on the film, I cannot wait to help find the next actress to portray Moana’s courageous spirit, undeniable wit and emotional strength. I am truly honored to pass this baton to the next young woman of Pacific Island descent to honor our incredible Pacific peoples, cultures and communities that help inspire her story, and I look forward to all the beautiful Pacific representation to come. Mahalo.
Auli’i Cravalho was a high school freshman when she was cast as Moana, and the film’s critical and commercial success launched her to Hollywood stardom. She would later reprise Moana for a cameo appearance in Ralph Breaks the Internet with other Disney Princesses, but rather than give the role a go in live-action, she, and presumably the other producers attached to the Moana remake, felt it’s better to let another actress get a crack at the character, who was 16 during the original movie’s main events. Still, it’s nice to hear that the 22-year-old Cravalho will be involved on the remake behind the scenes, and who knows, maybe there will be an opportunity for her to play a different role, like when Ming-Na Wen cameoed in 2020’s Mulan (which, like Moana, is easily available for Disney+ subscribers to watch).
Besides Cravalho being attached as an executive producer alongside Scott Sheldon, the other things we know so far about the Moana remake is that Dwayne Johnson will produce alongside his Seven Bucks Productions partners Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia, and original writer Jared Bush is working on the new screenplay with Dana Ledoux Miller. Johnson, of course, voiced Maui in the original movie, and while it hasn’t officially been clarified yet, according to THR, he will reprise the demigod. No time table has been set on when the new Moana will begin production, so it’s entirely it may not arrive until around 2026, the 10th anniversary of its predecessor's release.
As soon as more concrete news about the Moana remake is announced, we’ll pass it along. Until then, Auli’i Cravalho was most recently seen in the TV series The Power, which can be streamed with an Amazon Prime Video subscription, and she’s also part of the cast for the Mean Girls: The Musical film adaptation, which is filming now.
