Moana Film Set Images Reveal Dwayne Johnson As Stay-Motion Maui

The self-proclaimed “biggest demi-god of all of the Pacific Islands” is again in motion, however Maui’s wanting awfully totally different from the final time audiences noticed him in “Moana.” The animated film immediately grew to become a field workplace stumble on launch in 2016, although it is taken fairly some time for Disney to determine what to do with the titular character and her general storyline subsequent. That shocking quantity of hesitance led to the studio scrapping its plans for a streaming sequence and as a substitute retrofitting the present right into a feature-length sequel with the upcoming “Moana 2.” Nonetheless, that is not the one high-profile challenge at the moment within the works.

Following the sample set by a myriad of live-action remakes of Disney animated classics (to not point out the latest trailer debut of “Easy methods to Practice Your Dragon”), moviegoers can now count on a live-action “Moana” to hit theaters comparatively quickly … and we have already acquired our first unofficial style of what it’s going to appear to be. The function of the titular character has since been recast with Catherine Laga’aia moving into the footwear of unique voice actor Auli’i Cravalho, however Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is again to reprise his voice efficiency because the mischievous demi-god Maui. Because the movie is at the moment filming on location, we’re nonetheless a good distance off from seeing any official stills of the remake. 

Nonetheless, because of set images at the moment making the rounds on social media — which, sadly, we are able to solely hyperlink to on this article — followers can catch a glimpse of The Rock as live-action Maui within the flesh! We’ll break all of it down for the folks under.

What can I say besides you are welcome! It is beginning to really feel like 2016 over again, for higher or worse, as “Moana” fever is at the moment sweeping the web. Set images posted by the Cosmic Media fan account on X (previously often known as Twitter) have revealed our first, admittedly grainy take a look at The Rock filming a scene absolutely in character as Maui … and, yup, he undoubtedly appears to be like like The Rock! He is sporting the very same outfit as Maui does within the animated film, which suggests followers will immediately acknowledge that skirt made up of leaves and people distinctive tribal tattoos on his in any other case utterly naked chest. And for the Troy Polamalu followers amongst us (or, at the least, these of us who nonetheless keep in mind the NFL athlete’s luscious locks on show in these shampoo commercials), relaxation assured that Maui’s excessively curly hair has been faithfully recreated in stay motion, as nicely.

These visuals are to be anticipated, after all, however the bigger query stays: Why? By now, Disney has perfected their components of beat-for-beat remakes of films everybody is aware of and loves, so it was most likely solely a matter of time earlier than this identical strategy ended up affecting “Moana,” one of many studio’s most dependable money cows (as early monitoring on “Moana 2” definitely signifies). However other than the inventive issues of remaking a well-liked film that is hardly eight years outdated, maybe the extra urgent concern has to do with short-circuiting their very own momentum with the approaching launch of the animated “Moana 2” to dive proper again into the secure, nostalgic waters of a remake. If that performs as stockholders certainly count on it to, will that result in a live-action sequel (or maybe even a prequel, as Disney is doing with “The Lion King: Mufasa”)? Will the Mouse Home have two competing “Moana” franchises on its arms at the very same time?

Perhaps these are larger questions for one more day. For now, how do you are feeling about our first take a look at the “Moana” remake? The brand new movie is about to hit theaters on July 10, 2026, whereas the animated “Moana 2” will land simply in time for Thanksgiving on November 27, 2024.