Disney’s Live-Action ‘Moana’ Scores Big With Audiences Despite Critic Backlash — Is History Repeating After ‘Michael’?

Disney’s live action remake machine has produced a fairly predictable pattern over the past decade, one where critics tend to grumble while audiences either shrug along or show up in surprising numbers anyway.

That dynamic has played out again and again, from ‘Snow White’ to ‘Lilo and Stitch,’ with each release testing just how far the gap between critical opinion and moviegoer enthusiasm can stretch. This week’s release of the live-action ‘Moana’ has pushed that gap further than almost anything Disney has put out before.

‘Moana‘ arrived in theaters on July 10, adapting Disney’s beloved 2016 animated film with Catherine Laga’aia stepping into the title role and Dwayne Johnson returning as Maui. Reviews landed almost immediately, and they were not kind, with the film settling into the mid 30s percentile on Rotten Tomatoes, a number that makes it the lowest-rated entry in the entire ‘Moana’ franchise and one of the weakest scores among Disney’s recent live-action slate.

Critics repeatedly pointed to the film’s close resemblance to its animated predecessor as its biggest weakness, questioning why a shot-for-shot remake needed to exist at all.

Audiences, however, have told a completely different story. With over 500 verified ratings logged so far, the live-action ‘Moana’ currently holds a 90% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, officially setting a new franchise best for the series and edging out the original animated film’s own 89 percent audience approval. That kind of split, a rotten critic score paired with a verified hot audience reception, has become one of the most talked-about storylines surrounding the film’s release.

That gap becomes even more striking given how the film has performed financially. The live-action ‘Moana’ opened well below expectations, pulling in around 43 million domestically and roughly 95 million worldwide against a reported budget of 250 million, numbers that have already led some outlets to label it a box office disappointment for Disney

It is a strange position for a movie to be in, adored by the people who actually bought tickets to see it, yet still falling short of the commercial success the studio was clearly hoping for.

That disconnect actually mirrors something that played out earlier this year with an entirely different kind of film. The Michael Jackson biopic ‘Michael‘ faced its own wave of scathing reviews upon release in April, with critics frequently taking issue with how the film handled its subject’s complicated legacy.

Audiences responded the exact opposite way, showing up in droves and helping the film defy modest pre-release projections to eventually cross one billion dollars worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing biopic ever made in the process.

The difference between the two films comes down almost entirely to what happened after that critical drubbing. ‘Michael’ turned its audience enthusiasm into repeat viewings and sustained box office legs that carried it well past expectations over several months in theaters. ‘Moana’ has so far struggled to convert that same kind of audience love into ticket sales, leaving Disney with a film that people who see it genuinely enjoy, but one that has not managed to draw in nearly enough of those people in the first place.

Part of that struggle may come down to the fact that ‘Moana’ is competing with a version of itself that audiences already have easy access to at home, since both the original film and its 2024 sequel remain hugely popular on Disney Plus. In fact, both animated films saw a notable bump in streaming chart placement the same weekend the live-action remake hit theaters, suggesting some fans may be opting to revisit the originals rather than pay for a new ticket to watch a very similar story play out again.

Whether ‘Moana’ can find its footing in the coming weeks the way ‘Michael’ eventually did remains an open question, though the film’s already released numbers suggest it may be facing a steeper climb. For now, the record-setting audience score stands as a genuine bright spot for Disney amid an otherwise rocky opening, even if it has not yet translated into the kind of box office turnaround the studio would want.

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