Disney Retools ‘Moana’ Disney+ Series Into A Surprise Sequel: ‘Moana 2’ Releases November 2024
‘Moana 2' sails into theaters in 2024.
Today on CNBC prior to Disney’s Q1 earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that Moana 2 would be coming to theaters this November.
Now you may be wondering how this happened. As Disney didn’t previously announce Moana 2 at all and now it’s coming in November! Well, this film is actually what was intended for the Moana Disney+ series. Now the series has been retooled into a theatrical film and will give Disney Animation a boost at the box office this November.
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ epic animated musical Moana 2 takes audiences on an expansive new voyage with Moana, Maui, and a brand-new crew of unlikely seafarers. The film will be about Moana answering a call from her wayfinding ancestors and traveling into long-lost waters.
Synopsis: After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.
Moana 2 will be directed by Dave Derrick Jr. The Disney+ series was being worked on by Walt Disney Animation Vancouver, but now it seems like the film has shifted into a larger project. Moana 2 will have music by Grammy winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Grammy nominee Opetaia Foa’i, and three-time Grammy winner Mark Mancina.
“This was originally developed as a series, but we were impressed with what we saw, and we knew it deserved a theatrical release,” Iger said. “The original Moana film from 2016 recently crossed 1 billion hours streamed on Disney+ and was the most streamed movie of 2023 on any platform in the U.S.”
Iger went on to say that “along with the live-action version of the original film that’s currently in development, Moana remains an incredibly popular franchise, and we can’t wait to give you more of Moana and Maui when Moana 2 comes to theaters this November.”
A live-action version of Moana is also slated to premiere in June 2025. Journey of Water featuring Moana recently opened at EPCOT and it’s rumored that Moana’s presence will be increasing at the Disney Parks.
Moana 2 opens in theaters on November 27, 2024.
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Zach Perilstein is the Editor-in-Chief of the Boardwalk Times
