Moana…is back. Again. Hey, you can hardly blame Disney for seeing how far the franchise will go, considering last year’s Moana 2 made over $1B worldwide. And now today Disney has revealed the first trailer for the live-action remake starring newcomer Catherine Laga’aia in the titular role and Dwayne Johnson, who finally gets to play the demigod Māui for real this time.
The minute-long teaser is basically a shot-for-shot remake of the 2016 original hit, with Moana singing “How Far I’ll Go” to the vibrant people of her majestic island home. Get ready to have that unforgettable song in your brain again. Total earworm.
Also in the cast are John Tui as Chief Tui, Frankie Adams as Sina, and Rena Owen as Gramma Tala.
The film is directed by Thomas Kail, best known for directing Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton. Jared Bush (Zootopia 2) and Dana Ledoux Miller wrote the screenplay.
If I’ve learned anything from the recent How to Train Your Dragon live-action remake, it’s not to shut out the possibility of these films being just as good as their predecessors. Moana looks great so far, so color me optimistic.
Moana opens in theaters on July 10th 2026.
