Disney fans have hailed the box office success of Moana 2 as proof that major studios such as Disney need a change their strategy for straight-to-streaming releases.
The film, a sequel to the 2016 children’s animation Moana, passed the billion-dollar mark this weekend, having earned $445m (£366m) in the US and $567m (£466) internationally, for a total of $1.009bn (£828m) globally.
While Moana 2 has been a huge hit for Disney, the film was originally supposed to be released directly onto Disney+, the studio’s streaming platform. Midway through production, it was decided that the project, at the time intended to take the form of a multi-episode TV series, should instead be re-tooled into a film, and released theatrically.
Moana 2 is one of three Disney-produced films released last year to cross the one-billion mark at the box office, after Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine.
In recent years, distributors including Disney and Netflix have been criticised for refusing to give wide theatrical releases to many high-profile films. Fans have cited Moana 2’s success as evidence that studios need to stop prioritising straight-to-streaming releases.
“I skipped Moana 2 as I thought it looked awful but this is good news,” one person wrote. “A movie originally meant for streaming went theatrical and made a ton of money. It encourages studios to shy away from streaming.”
“Considering that Moana 2 was intended to be a direct to streaming movie that was made into a theatrical release later into production, it’s interesting it’s crossed over $1 billion at the box office,” another person wrote.
“It was also the move they should’ve done initially,” someone else commented. “Moana was/is such a popular IP (especially on streaming). Virtually all of their big IP should be viewed as theatrical releases going forward.”
Despite its massive box office haul, Moana 2 received lukewarm reviews from critics.
The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey wrote: “Moana 2 would have made for a very nice television series – as it was originally meant to be. But as a reskinned theatrical sequel to one of Disney Animation’s biggest hits, it’s a little harder to justify. Certainly, it looks good, shaded like a pearlescent shell, all shimmering hues of pink, blue, orange, and purple. It’s bright enough to draw in, like a moth to a candle, anyone who’s been craving some release from the mottled grey landscape of contemporary Hollywood.”
