Celebrating Our 20th Anniversary!
by Alex Billington
June 10, 2026
Source: YouTube
“This mission has no chance! We gotta go through a whole ocean of bad…” Disney debuted one final official trailer for their next live-action movie based on an animated classic – Moana, the vibrant musical about the ocean princess. This live-action remake is hitting theaters in July 2026 this summer. (Also known as Vaiana in many other countries.) Just in time to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the original – Disney Animation’s Moana starring the voices of Dwayne Johnson & Auli’i Cravalho, which first hit theaters in 2016. While they did bring back Dwayne Johnson to also star in this as Maui again, they recast the lead role and it will star actress Catherine Laga’aia as Moana instead of the original voice Auli’i Cravalho (who is still involved as an executive producer). The cast also includes John Tui as Chief Tui, Frankie Adams, Rena Owen, & Gramma Tala. In ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by the demigod Maui reaches Moana’s island, she answers the Ocean’s call to seek out Maui to set things right. “The ocean chose her for a reason.” This is all the same footage you know and love just turned into full-on CGI “realistic” footage, with almost every frame filled with fully rendered VFX in addition to the actors. Will this be worth watching? Up to you.
Here’s the final official trailer (+ IMAX poster) for Thomas Kail’s live-action Moana, direct from YouTube:
You can rewatch the first full trailer for Thomas Kail’s Moana remake right here or the first teaser trailer.
In Disney’s live-action adaptation of the beloved Oscar-nominated animated adventure, Moana (Catherine Laga’aia) answers the Ocean’s call and, for the first time, voyages beyond the reef of her island of Motunui with the infamous demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) on an unforgettable journey to restore prosperity to her people. Disney’s Moana is directed by filmmaker Thomas Kail, director of the series “Up Here”, “We Were the Lucky Ones”, “Fosse/Verdon” previously, and also the filmed versions of the stage shows Grease Live! and Hamilton. The screenplay is written by Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller; based on Disney’s Moana animation screenplay by Jared Bush. It’s produced by Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Beau Flynn, Hiram Garcia and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Audiences can experience the brilliant cinematic sights, sounds and songs of Disney’s live-action version of Moana in theaters worldwide starting July 10th, 2026 coming up.
