Disney's Biggest 2026 Box Office Bomb Redeems Itself on Streaming

Make way, make way, for we have a new leader in the streaming race. Disney has spent much of the last decade turning its animated classics into live-action blockbusters, with mixed results. Some of them have been billion-dollar sensations, while others have been spectacularly expensive disappointments. This one looked like a guaranteed hit, but Disney may have run into the law of diminishing returns.

Disney's live-action Moana has officially climbed to No. 1 on the Disney+ movie chart in the United States, according to streaming tracker FlixPatrol. It reached the top spot on October 23 and has held it since, which is particularly impressive because it beat seasonal favorites including The Nightmare Before Christmas and Hocus Pocus. The film made its Disney+ debut on October 21, so it didn't take long to rise, but that should not be a surprise: Disney+ has regularly had the original animated Moana in its top 10 since the platform launched.

Directed by Thomas Kail (Hamilton), the film is a beat-for-beat live-action remake (though, given the amount of green screen involved, that's pushing it) that follows the young Polynesian wayfinder Moana, who makes the bold choice to travel beyond her island's reef to stop a darkness from spreading and ruining their way of life. The cast includes Catherine Lagaʻaia (The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart) as Moana, Dwayne Johnson (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) as Maui, John Tui (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies) as Chief Tui, Frankie Adams (The Expanse) as Sina, Rena Owen (Once Were Warriors) as Gramma Tala, and Jemaine Clement (What We Do in the Shadows) as Tamatoa.

How Badly Did 'Moana' Perform at the Box Office?

Released on July 10, 2026, the remake opened to approximately $43.1 million domestically and eventually earned $126.2 million in North America and $323.9 million worldwide. Those numbers would be impressive for a smaller family movie, but Disney reportedly spent approximately $250 million on production alone.

Critics weren't particularly impressed either. The movie currently holds a 33% Rotten Tomatoes critics' score, compared with a considerably stronger 87% verified audience score. Its position atop Disney+'s American movie rankings suggests audiences remain interested in the characters, even if they weren't willing to turn out in comparable numbers for another theatrical adventure.

The original animated film and its sequel are also available on Disney+, alongside the 2026 live-action remake.