Moana (2026)
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2025-09 to 2026-08
A young woman must journey across the ocean to return a stolen heart and save her island from a growing blight.
The story
On the Polynesian island of Motunui, the people live in harmony until a blight strikes, destroying vegetation and depleting fish stocks. Moana, the daughter of the island's chief, is chosen by the ocean to embark on a perilous journey beyond the reef. She must find the demigod Maui and retrieve a stolen heart to restore the goddess Te Fiti. Despite her father's warnings and the dangers of the sea, Moana sets sail to save her home, accompanied by her pet pig, Pua, and a stowaway rooster, Heihei.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Long ago, the demigod Maui stole the heart of the goddess Te Fiti, causing her to disintegrate and the ocean to become dangerous. A thousand years later, the ocean chooses Moana to return the heart. After her grandmother, Tala, reveals the truth about the past and the threat of the volcanic demon Te Kā, Moana sets sail. She encounters Maui, who is initially reluctant to help but eventually joins her to reclaim his power and his fishhook from the crab Tamatoa. After facing various obstacles and the pirates Kakamora, they reach Te Fiti's island. Moana realizes that Te Kā is actually the corrupted Te Fiti. With Maui's help, she returns the heart, healing the land. Maui is rewarded with a new hook and becomes an island, while Moana returns home to become the new chief and wayfinder.
- First release year
- 2026
- Runtime (minutes)
- 115
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Thomas Kail
- Writers
- Jared Bush · screenplay; Dana Ledoux Miller · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Dwayne Johnson · Maui; Catherine Laga'aia · Moana; Rena Owen · Gramma Tala; John Tui · Chief Tui; Frankie Adams · Sina; Jemaine Clement · Tamatoa
- Genres
- musical; adventure
- Themes
- bravery; identity
- Tone and mood
- adventure; mythological
- Setting
- The Polynesian island of Motunui and the surrounding ocean.
- Premise and plot tags
- live-action; remake
- Source material / true-story basis
- Disney Animation's 2016 film
- Franchise connections
- Moana
- Reception
- The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics, with some praising its faithfulness to the original while others criticized its lack of artistic innovation.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 33% · scale: percentage · review count: 197; Metacritic · score: 42 · scale: 100 · review count: 40
- Production trivia
- One of the most expensive films ever made; The studio considered using an AI-generated deepfake of Dwayne Johnson's face
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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