Disney’s Moana Live-Action Remake Runtime Sets An All-Time Franchise Record

Disney’s new live-action remake Moana sails with a franchise record.

Nearly ten years ago, Disney’s animated adventure movie presented a magical story about a Polynesian girl, Moana (voiced by Auliʻi Cravalho), who voyages the seas to restore peace to her community with the help of a demigod, Maui (Dwayne Johnson). While a sequel dropped in 2024 to continue her seafaring, Moana also became the latest Disney film to get the live-action treatment.

With tickets now on sale and the studio dropping the final trailer, the official runtime has now been revealed. A Disney representative confirmed to ScreenRant that the live-action Moana remake will have a runtime of one hour and 51 minutes, easily making it the longest installment in the entire series.

In fact, the original 2016 movie ran one hour and 47 minutes. Given this four-minute difference, the remake may have one or two original scenes, or it may extend a sequence to fit with the live-action format. It also continues a Disney trend, as their live-action remakes tend to be a few minutes longer than the original. A good example is the recent Lilo & Stitch movie, where the 2025 installment was 23 minutes longer than the original animated version.

As live-action Disney remakes become the norm, Moana alone has set the shortest gap between the release of its original animation and live-action iteration by nearly ten years. However, the remake opportunity makes sense, given its huge $687.2 million worldwide box office and near-universal positive reception.

With a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the Disney movie was praised for its hero’s journey, the respect for Polynesian culture, and the inspiring music composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, particularly “How Far I’ll Go.” Moana ultimately earned two Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song and Best Animated Feature.

Following the first movie’s success, Disney expanded it into a franchise, although the sequel took nearly eight years to develop. In fact, the original plan was to develop a miniseries before shifting to the movie format. Although Moana 2 reviews weren’t nearly as strong, it did join the billion-dollar club, solidifying the popularity of the Disney franchise.

Unlike the sequel, the live-action remake didn’t take as long to develop after the project was announced in 2023. Although Johnson will reprise his live-action counterpart, newcomer Catherine Laga’aia will portray live-action Moana since Cravalho, who will be an executive producer, wanted to “pass the baton.” Thomas Kail also helms the directing duties for the upcoming iteration.

While the remake had some bumps, including criticism of Johnson’s live-action Maui look and potential AI use, there is a lot of anticipation for the Disney feature. While it’s expected to stay faithful to the original 2016 movie, the few extra minutes should hopefully add more magic to the remake and Moana’s sailing adventures by returning a valuable relic to the goddess Te Fiti.

The live-action Moana will be released in theaters on July 10, 2026.

Release Date

July 10, 2026

Runtime

120 Minutes

Director

Thomas Kail