Disney’s live-action remake of “Moana” opens at the top of the US and Canada box office with about $43 million in its opening weekend, according to reporting by Variety and the Financial Post. The film plays in roughly 3,800 theaters, drawing ticket sales of approximately $18 million on Friday and positioning it at No. 1 for the day.
Multiple outlets characterize the debut as underwhelming for a major Disney release. Variety reports the opening weekend total is among the weakest performances for Disney’s recent live-action remakes, particularly when weighed against the film’s reported $250 million production budget, not including marketing costs. Rival estimates cited by Variety also frame the weekend projection at around $45 million, reinforcing that the opening run is not matching expectations set by prior entries.
While “Moana” is leading the box office during its launch window, the coverage focuses on the gap between performance and the scale of the investment and the studio’s hoped-for domestic draw.
