Disney has shared the first trailer for Moana 2. When I say “trailer”, I mean a literal few seconds of footage to tease fans ahead of its launch later this year. Moana 2 will launch in cinemas on 27 November worldwide.
Disney says that Moana 2 originally started out as a TV series project. CEO Bob Iger revealed the company planned to launch it as a Disney Plus show. However, Iger says after seeing the first production reel, Disney decided it deserved a theatrical release instead.
It is quite strange to see a movie on the scale of Moana 2 be announced only a few months before its launch. Usually, these projects are revealed years before they make their way to cinemas. Keep in mind that Disney is also working on a live-action adaption of Moana which was announced in 2023 and is set to launch in 2025.
The Moana movie was streamed for more than 1 billion minutes on Disney Plus in 2023. Despite the recent slump in subscribers due to the constant service price hikes, of course.
The original film coined it for Disney too raking in $643 million worldwide. It was also nominated for two Academy Awards.
Little is known about Moana 2 at the moment. Dave Derrick Jr, who worked on the original movie as a storyboard artist is directing the sequel. Abigil Barlow, Emily Bear, Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina are writing the songs.
Disney says Moana 2 will be an “expansive new voyage with Moana, Maui and a brand-new crew of unlikely seafarers”. The exact cast has yet to be confirmed. But we’ll likely see the return of Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson as the demigod Maui and Auliʻi Cravalho as Moana.
