Moana star Dwayne Johnson has shared a major update about Disney’s upcoming live-action film adaptation of the acclaimed 2016 animated movie. Johnson will be reprising his fan-favorite role as Maui in both the upcoming animated sequel and the live-action Moana movie.
Posted on Instagram, Johnson confirmed that production on the live-action Moana movie is currently scheduled to start sometime in August, three months before the animated sequel arrives in theaters on Nov. 27. He also expressed his excitement at getting the chance to continue to highlight Polynesian culture with the upcoming live-action adaptation. “It’s our deepest honor to share the legends, songs, dances and traditions of our Polynesian culture with all of you and your families around the world,” Johnson wrote. “Production begins this August.”
The live-action Moana movie will be directed by Emmy nominee Thomas Kail, who’s best known for directing Lin-Manuel Miranda’s award-winning Broadway musical Hamilton. The remake is written by returning scribe Jared Bush, who previously wrote the screenplays for popular Disney movies like Zootopia, Moana and Encanto. In addition to joining the live-action cast, Johnson will also serve as a producer alongside Hiram Garcia and Dany Garcia through their Seven Bucks Productions banner. Even though original star Auli’i Cravalho won’t be portraying the titular heroine in live-action, she’s still involved in the project as an executive producer. In a previous interview, Cravalho explained why she decided against playing the live-action Moana, revealing that “it feels really important to me [her] to pass the baton to the next young woman of Pacific Island descent.”
Disney Finds Its Live-Action Moana Cast
Last June, Disney announced that 17-year-old Catherine Laga‘aia from Sydney, Australia had officially been tapped to play Moana in the forthcoming live-action remake. This marks the young actor’s feature acting debut, after previously appearing in 2023’s The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart series with Sigourney Weaver. “I’m really excited to embrace this character because Moana is one of my favorites,” Laga‘aia said in a previous statement when her casting was first confirmed. “My grandfather comes from Fa‘aala, Palauli, in Savai‘i. And my grandmother is from Leulumoega Tuai on the main island of ‘Upolu in Samoa. I’m honored to have an opportunity to celebrate Samoa and all Pacific Island peoples, and to represent young girls who look like me.”
In addition to Laga‘aia and Johnson, the leading cast will also include John Tui (Hobbs & Shaw, Young Rock) as Moana’s father, Chief Tui; Frankie Adams (Mortal Engines, The Expanse) as Moana’s mother, Sina; and Rena Owen (Siren, Whina) as Gramma Tala. Their characters were respectively voiced by Jemaine Clement, Nicole Scherzinger and Rachel House in the original animated movie. The initial synopsis for the Moana remake reads, “Celebrating the islands, communities and traditions of Pacific Islanders in a spectacular adventure, Moana will bring to life in a whole new way the story of a young woman eager to pave her own path.”
The Moana live-action movie is slated to arrive in theaters on June 27, 2025.