Disney has officially released the first full trailer for its live-action remake of Moana, and the footage makes one thing immediately clear: Dwayne Johnson is fully committed to bringing Maui back to life in a whole new way. The trailer offers the most complete look yet at a film that has been generating anticipation since it was first announced, and it arrives with the weight of a franchise that has only grown in popularity since the original animated feature debuted in 2016.
What the new trailer reveals
The footage centers on Moana’s journey across a vast and treacherous ocean, framing her not as a princess but as a hero with a purpose larger than herself and a connection to the sea that no one else around her can fully understand. Catherine Laga’aia, who steps into the title role, carries the emotional core of the trailer with a presence that feels both grounded and genuinely compelling for a character audiences already love deeply.
Johnson reprises the role he voiced in the original film, this time appearing in live-action form complete with Maui’s iconic animated tattoos rendered in a way that pays direct tribute to the visual language of the 2016 version. The trailer leans heavily into the relationship between Moana and Maui as the central dynamic of the story, and the chemistry between Laga’aia and Johnson appears to translate effectively from animation to live action.
Disney also released a behind-the-scenes featurette titled “Artistry of Moana,” offering a closer look at the filmmaking process with director Thomas Kail alongside Laga’aia, Johnson, the film’s costume designer, and its choreographer. The featurette provides early insight into the creative decisions shaping one of the studio’s most anticipated releases of the year.
A strong foundation to build on
The live-action Moana arrives with considerable goodwill already banked. The original 2016 animated film was a critical and commercial success, and its sequel, Moana 2, became a significant box office hit in 2024 after being reimagined from a Disney+ streaming series into a full theatrical release. That pivot proved to be the right call, and it demonstrated that audience appetite for this particular story and these characters remains strong well into the franchise’s second decade.
Disney‘s recent track record with live-action remakes has also steadied considerably after the mixed reception that greeted its Snow White adaptation. Last year’s live-action Lilo and Stitch performed well with audiences, reinforcing confidence that the studio knows how to handle beloved animated properties when it commits to the material with genuine care.
The full cast and creative team
The supporting cast brings additional depth to the production. John Tui plays Moana’s father, Chief Tui, while Frankie Adams takes on the role of her mother, Sina, and Rena Owen portrays Gramma Tala, the family elder whose connection to the ocean shapes Moana‘s destiny from childhood. Auli’i Cravalho, the voice of Moana in both animated films, serves as one of the movie’s executive producers, a role that keeps her meaningfully connected to the story she helped bring to life a decade ago.
The musical dimension of the film is equally well-stocked. Original songs come from Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i, and Mark Mancina, with Mancina also composing the film’s original score. The involvement of the same creative voices behind the animated film’s celebrated soundtrack suggests Disney is not treating this as a simple visual translation but as a full reimagining that honors the music audiences already know.
Moana opens in theaters on July 10, 2026.
Source: Collider / io9