The Disney live-action remake juggernaut continues apace, with Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid and Snow White all on the way very soon. Now, Dwayne Johnson has announced that a live-action remake of 2016’s Moana is in the works. Up until now, the most recent animated movie to be announced as getting the live-action treatment is 2002’s Lilo & Stitch, which coincidentally is set in Hawaii, like Moana.
With the announcement that an animated movie that was only released seven years ago is getting a live-action remake, this opens the doors to many other more recent Disney movies. These include The Princess & the Frog, Tangled, and the global phenomena that were Frozen and Encanto.
Other upcoming live-action remakes that have been announced include Guy Ritchie’s Hercules, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s The Sword in the Stone, Carlos Lopez Estrada’s Robin Hood, and Questlove’s The Aristocats. Lilo & Stitch will be directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, who directed Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. A young actress named Maia Kealoha has been cast as Lilo.
The live-action remakes have been big money-spinners for Disney. The Lion King’s 2019 remake made an unbelievable $1.6 billion, 2017’s Beauty and the Beast made $1.2 billion, and 2019’s Aladdin also crossed the billion mark. Therefore, they are likely to continue making more and more of them.
Dwayne Johnson‘s recent foray into DC didn’t go too well, so it makes sense that he’s retreated to the safety of Disney – where he’s had hits such as Jungle Cruise and more. A Jungle Cruise sequel is expected.
While we wait to hear more about Moana, check out our guide to the best musicals.