I missed the second day of WrestleMania 40 this weekend because I was traveling to sunny Las Vegas to attend CinemaCon 2024 and check out Disney’s exciting lineup of upcoming movie releases. On Saturday, however, I did get to check out The Rock and Roman Reigns laying the smackdown on Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins before the excellent follow up between Cody and Roman played out on Night 2. As it turns out Dwayne Johnson jetted off to Vegas too after he left Philadelphia, and he showed up to show off the first footage of Moana 2 --including music!
I can almost hear him saying: The Rock doesn't take days off. (What) The Rock's got unlimited energy. (What)
Hopping onstage for Disney’s 2024 CinemaCon panel, The Rock was all presence, talking about how the role of Maui is important to him, as it is based on his own grandfather. Johnson expressed excitement for the upcoming sequel as well, noting:
Now, playing the character of Maui has been one of the most life-changing experiences for me, one of the most life-changing roles… it’s my culture as you can see. I wear it on my body, my chest, my tattoos. The character of Maui was based on my grandfather… it’s so much deeper than a movie to me and so much deeper to Disney as well.
Before introducing the upcoming movie, he also revealed it has an “all new crew, all new setting and of course, all new songs. You’re welcome.” Gotta end on that signature note.
Interestingly, Maui did not appear in the first look footage Disney offered us, but we did get to hear a wonderful new song that’s presumably called “We’re Back” in the upcoming sequel. The main repeated line in the song is “Finally we’re back to who we’re meant to be."
We also saw Moana on a journey on the ocean, and saw her enter a cave hidden by falling water and playing a drum, leading to a funny moment with the chicken HeiHei. Other shots showed her returning to her village by boat and more. We had gotten a first look announcement from the movie previously, but this is really our first footage from the upcoming Disney film, and I only have positive feedback.
Moana 2 was originally envisioned as a TV series for Disney+ before it shifted to a movie format and a Disney theatrical release this year. Since then it’s moved fast, with Moana 2 already having a release date and nabbing a coveted November 2024 slot.
I honestly am still so startled The Rock showed up at this Disney event. I mean, that was a long match on Saturday night, plus he made a surprise appearance on Sunday. If I were him, I would have taken more than a few days off before I got back to the grind, but not The Rock. He’s considered one of the hardest working in the business –if not the hardest – for a reason. I’m actually starting to wonder if he took no nights off after he rocked it out in the ring.
One thing is for certain: the man knows how to put on a show. Can't wait to see more of it in the ring and on the big screen.
