The live-action Moana was projected to open at $85 million. It opened at $18 million — a 79 percent shortfall against Disney's own expectations, on a film that may ultimately lose more than $100 million.

Numbers like that don't come from one bad decision. They come from several things going wrong at once. So when a studio executive addresses it publicly, the most telling detail is which factors they choose to name.

Dana Walden, Disney's President and Chief Creative Officer, spoke about the film's performance this week at Bloomberg's Screentime — a conversation that also touched on Jimmy Kimmel's future at ABC and this year's company layoffs.

What Walden Said About Live-Action Moana

Walden attributed the film's disappointing box office to its proximity to Moana 2, the animated sequel released in November 2024.