Disney dropped the first full trailer for its live-action remake of Moana on Monday, March 23, and it delivers the one thing fans have been waiting for since the film was announced three years ago, Dwayne Johnson, in the flesh, as Maui.
Johnson voiced the shape-shifting demigod in the original 2016 animated film and its 2024 sequel, but this is the first time audiences are seeing him actually embody the role in live action.
The trailer doesn’t hold back. Johnson appears as Maui in full, tattoos, hook, bravado, shown shifting into his classic shark head form and delivering a teaser of “You’re Welcome,” the fan-favorite song that became one of the more inescapable earworms of that decade.
If you had any doubt Johnson was born to play this role, the trailer is not going to settle that debate so much as make it louder.
What Is In The Trailer?
The new footage opens on the island of Motunui, where Gramma Tala, played by New Zealand actress Rena Owen, sets Moana on the path she was always meant to walk, telling her granddaughter about the quest to find Maui and restore the heart of Te Fiti.
From there it moves quickly. The ocean, the reef, the open water, and then Moana herself, played by newcomer Catherine Laga’aia, belting out both “How Far I’ll Go” and “I Am Moana” in a trailer that wastes no time establishing that the young actress can sing.
Laga’aia, who is making her film debut here at 17, has Samoan heritage on both sides of her family, her grandfather from Fa’aala in Savai’i, her grandmother from Leulumoega Tuai on the main island of ‘Upolu.
When she was cast in June 2024, she said she was honored to celebrate Samoa and all Pacific Island peoples and to represent young girls who look like her. She is, by every account from the footage, the real thing.
The trailer also gives first looks at Tamatoa, the giant glittery crab villain, and Te Fiti, the goddess at the center of the story.
Moana’s animal companions, the pig Pua and the magnificently useless chicken Heihei, both make appearances.
John Tui and Frankie Adams appear briefly as Moana’s parents, Chief Tui and Sina. Alongside the trailer, Disney also released an “Artistry of Moana” featurette featuring behind-the-scenes footage with Johnson, Laga’aia, director Thomas Kail, costume designer Liz McGregor, and choreographer Tiana Nonosina.
When Can Fans See The Live Action Moana?
Moana arrives in theaters on July 10, 2026, the exact 10th anniversary of the original animated film’s release, which itself collected $643 million at the global box office and received Oscar nominations for both Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for Miranda’s “How Far I’ll Go.”
This version is directed by Thomas Kail, who won Emmy and Tony Awards for his work directing the Broadway production of Hamilton and helmed the filmed version of that show for Disney+.
It marks his feature directorial debut. The screenplay was written by Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller, both of whom worked on the original film and Moana 2.
Lin-Manuel Miranda returns as both a producer and songwriter alongside original composers Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina, who confirmed his return in December 2024.
Auli’i Cravalho, who voiced Moana in both animated films, will not be reprising the role, her choice, made specifically so that another Pacific Islander actress could claim it.
She serves as executive producer instead, a gesture that has been widely noted as generous in an industry not always known for that.
In August 2025, it was reported that Disney had explored using an AI-generated deepfake of Johnson’s face composited onto a body double for certain shots, a plan that was quietly abandoned amid ongoing societal and governmental debate around AI in filmmaking.
The Context
Disney’s live-action remake machine has had a complicated few years. Snow White (2025) underperformed and generated significant controversy before it even opened.
Lilo & Stitch, on the other hand, was a massive hit, demonstrating that the appetite for these films hasn’t disappeared, it’s just selective.
Moana is the eighth confirmed Disney Princess remake and the fastest turnaround the studio has attempted, the original will be barely a decade old when this one opens.
Disney’s own explanation at the time of announcement was that the celebration of the studio’s 100th anniversary contributed to the decision to move quickly.
Whether that reasoning satisfies audiences or not, the trailer’s arrival today has generated exactly the kind of noise Disney needs, fans thrilled about Pacific Islander representation on a major screen, cinephiles skeptical about yet another frame-for-frame recreation, and virtually everyone with an opinion about Dwayne Johnson in a muscle suit.
The ocean chose her for a reason. Theaters will find out if audiences agree on July 10.
