Moana and Supergirl are among this year’s biggest box office disappointments. However, the Disney live-action movie makes the Superhero film look like a hit, but this could change.
How much money did Moana make from Thursday previews?
The live-action Moana held Thursday preview screenings beginning at 2 p.m. on July 10, and the first box office numbers are in. The Disney movie made $4.5 million in previews, according to Deadline. It outperformed Snow White’s $3.5 million in previews but fell well short of The Little Mermaid’s $10.3 million.
The film was produced on an estimated budget of $250 million. Earlier, the studio was targeting a $60 million opening weekend. However, after poor early critical reviews, the studio reportedly lowered its projections to around $40 million. The movie now sits with a 36% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the second-worst score when it came to Disney’s live-action adaptations.
By comparison, another film that underperformed at the box office was Craig Gillespie’s Supergirl. The DC movie was produced on an estimated budget of $170 million, with a roughly $120 million marketing budget. The studio also targeted earnings of around $55 million but lowered it to $45 million after initial reviews. It earned $7.8 million in Thursday previews before going on to gross $38 million worldwide.
The box-office comparison between the two latest releases makes Supergirl feel like a hit compared to the earnings of Moana. The Moana reviews do not look great because the movie follows the same storyline with almost no changes to the script.
Many critics argued that the adaptation lacks the sense of imagination and visual wonder that made the animated original so memorable, despite closely following its story. That said, these are only Thursday preview numbers, and the overall box office is expected to grow over the weekend. The Rotten Tomatoes score increased by five percentage points while this article was being written as more reviews were published.
The live-action Moana releases in theaters worldwide on July 10, 2026.
