‘Moana 2’ Officially Confirmed for November 2024, Short Teaser Revealed
It’s the second Moana shock in less than a year. Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed today during the company’s Q1 shareholder meeting that a sequel to the animated 2016 hit is coming to theaters this November.
Disney also revealed a very short video announcing it to the world:
Said Disney’s announcement:
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. 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. Directed by Dave Derrick Jr. with music by Grammy winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Grammy nominee Opetaia Foa’i, and three-time Grammy winner Mark Mancina, “Moana 2” opens in theaters on Nov. 27, 2024.
They also revealed a first-look image, teasing the return of Maui as well. Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson are expected to return to their respective voice roles. Bob Iger also said during the call that this was first conceived as a Disney Plus series, but they were so confident in it that they retooled it as a feature-length film.
This is Disney’s latest attempt to revisit their most acclaimed animated films. The studio is also developing a fifth Toy Story installment, two new Frozen movies, and a sequel to Zootopia. But Moana 2‘s announcement came completely out of the blue (ocean), especially because it must have been in development for far too long to be coming out this year.
Walt Disney Studios is also developing a live-action remake of the first film, with Dwayne Johnson attached to return as Maui. That was announced last year, around the same time as Johnson’s return to the Fast & Furious franchise was confirmed. Since then, the wrestler-turned-actor has confirmed he’ll be developing his first movie with A24, a biopic of wrestler Mark Kerr directed by Benny Safdie.
The live-action Moana was once reported to be targeting a fall 2023 shoot, but the strikes delayed that, and the movie has not seen much development in the news cycle. As far as we know, Johnson remains attached, but an actress to play the titular character has yet to be found. More news on that should be coming out later this year, as the pic is supposedly targeting a June 2025 release date.
Moana 2 comes out on November 27.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
