Moana (2026 film) facts for kids

Moana is an exciting upcoming movie from Disney. It's a live-action film, which means it uses real actors instead of animation. This new movie is based on Disney's popular animated film Moana from 2016. It's also the third movie in the Moana story series.

The film is directed by Thomas Kail. The story for the movie was written by Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller. Famous actor Dwayne Johnson is one of the producers, along with Hiram and Dany Garcia, and Beau Flynn.

The movie stars Catherine Lagaʻaia as the main character, Moana. This is her very first movie role! Dwayne Johnson also returns to play the voice of Maui, just like he did in the animated film.

The idea for a live-action Moana movie was first shared by Dwayne Johnson in April 2023. Filming took place in places like Atlanta and Hawaii from July to November 2024. The movie is planned to come out in theaters on July 10, 2026.

Meet the Cast

• Catherine Lagaʻaia plays Moana, the brave main character.
• Dwayne Johnson plays Maui, the powerful demigod.
• John Tui plays Chief Tui, Moana's father.
• Frankie Adams plays Sina, Moana's mother.
• Rena Owen plays Gramma Tala, Moana's wise grandmother.

Making the Movie

How the Idea Started

On April 3, 2023, Dwayne Johnson shared exciting news on his YouTube channel. He announced that a live-action version of Moana was being made by Walt Disney Pictures. Johnson is a producer for the film. He works with his company, Seven Bucks Productions, and Beau Flynn from Flynn Picture Co. Auliʻi Cravalho, who was the voice of Moana in the animated film, is also helping as an executive producer.

Dwayne Johnson explained how important this story is to him. He said the story shows the "grace and warrior strength" of his culture. He also mentioned that playing Maui again, who was inspired by his late grandfather, means a lot to him. He believes that music and dance are perfect ways to share the story of Polynesian people.

Even though the animated Moana came out only seven years before, Disney decided to make a remake. This was partly to celebrate Disney's 100th anniversary.

Choosing the Actors

On May 31, 2023, Thomas Kail was announced as the director for the movie. The search for actors was supposed to start later that year. However, it was paused until November 8, 2023, because of a big strike by actors.

In February 2024, Dwayne Johnson shared that an actress had been chosen to play Moana. But her name was kept a secret for a while. In June, it was finally revealed that Catherine Lagaʻaia would play Moana. John Tui, Frankie Adams, and Rena Owen also joined the cast. Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller wrote the movie's script.

Filming the Scenes

The main filming for Moana started on July 29, 2024, in Atlanta. The movie had a secret name during filming, which was Canon. Filming then moved to Hawaii and finished on November 22.

Originally, filming was planned for June 2024. It was also going to have a different secret name, Motorheads. But the actors' strike caused delays. Óscar Faura is the person in charge of how the movie looks on screen, as the cinematographer.

The Music

Mark Mancina, who created the music for the first Moana movie and its sequel, will also compose the music for this new live-action film. He confirmed this in December 2024.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote many of the popular songs for the original Moana, will also return. He was not involved with Moana 2 because of other work he had to do.

When to Watch It

Moana is planned to be released on July 10, 2026. This date is special because it's exactly 10 years after the original animated film came out.

The movie was first planned for June 27, 2025. But after Moana 2 was announced, the live-action movie's release date was moved. This was to make sure there was enough time between the two Moana films.

See also

In Spanish: Moana (película de 2026) para niños

• List of Disney live-action adaptations and remakes of Disney animated films