Disney’s live-action Moana made $4.5M in previews from Thursday showtimes that began 2PM.
No audience score yet, but critics have walloped this live action version directed by Thomas Kail with Maui’s hook at 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s lower than the live-action version of Snow White (39%) starring Rachel Zegler, Will Smith’s Aladdin (57%) and Dumbo (46%). Previews here for Moana are higher than Snow White ($3.5M, $42.2M opening) and Dumbo ($2.6M, $45.99M opening), but lower than Little Mermaid ($10.3M previews, $95.5M 3-day opening) and Aladdin ($7M previews, $91.5M 3-day opening). They’re also well below the Tuesday previews before Thanksgiving of Moana 2 ($13.8M, $139.7M 3-day).
Here’s the thing: Earlier this week we heard that Moana was hoping for a low $60M start, but exhibitors pushed that down to a high $40Ms projection. Presales heading into the weekend were at $4M. Yikes. Success with the latest Dwayne Johnson movie relies on walk-up business tomorrow, and the fear is that the family space is crowded with the mega success of Toy Story 5 and the recent lackluster release of Minions & Monsters, not to mention it’s too much Moana, too soon, this version arriving less than two years from the box office tsunami that was the animated Moana 2.
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