Live-action Moana could clock in shorter than first reported

Bit of a minor saga brewing over the runtime for Disney's live-action Moana remake. Turns out, what we thought was going to be a full two-hour epic might actually clock in at a slightly more manageable length – and yes, the numbers keep shifting, which has plenty of people keeping tabs as we get closer to release.

Disney and AMC Can't Quite Agree on the Runtime

Here’s where things started to spiral: AMC Theatres, the American cinema chain, put up its advance ticket listing for Moana and advertised a solid 120-minute runtime. Cue a load of excitement across fan forums, because that figure would plant this remake a whole 13 minutes longer than the original animated film from 2016. People naturally took this at face value – longer must mean bigger, right? Maybe some new songs, extra scenes, the full Disney treatment.

But it didn’t take long before someone actually asked Disney. According to a ScreenRant piece, a Disney rep has now chimed in with a new, officially-sanctioned runtime: one hour and 51 minutes. For those who don’t fancy doing the maths, that’s 111 minutes – nine minutes shorter than AMC is still claiming. Slightly awkward, as AMC hasn't changed its page and is still advertising their original 120-minute figure. Either they're holding out hope for a director’s cut, or somebody’s just not updated the site.

Franchise Stats (For Those Who Like to Keep Score)

• 2016 animated Moana: 107 minutes
• 2025 animated Moana sequel (not out yet): reportedly 100 mins
• 2024 live-action Moana: officially 111 minutes (per Disney), 120 minutes (per AMC)
• 2025 live-action Lilo & Stitch: tacks on 23 minutes more than the original

So even if we go with Disney’s more conservative number, this remake will still end up the longest Moana instalment to date – just not by a country mile. This is pretty much in line with their recent approach, bumping up runtimes for the live-action versions, but usually not rewriting the whole thing from top to bottom.

Cast, Crew, and Other Essentials

Director: Thomas Kail is in the chair for this one.

Dwayne Johnson is reprising his role as Maui, which, frankly, always seemed nailed on, and newcomer Catherine Laga'aia steps in as Moana. Auli'i Cravalho, who voiced Moana in the original, is involved too, but this time she’s at the grown-up table as an executive producer.

Story-wise, there’s not a radical overhaul: Moana, chosen by the ocean, leaves her island of Motunui on a quest to find Maui and sort out the world. It’s essentially the animated film, just with more dramatic beaches and no singing crabs drawn by hand.

The film lands in UK cinemas (and everywhere else) on 10 July.

A Disney spokesperson, when pressed about the shifting runtime, confirmed to ScreenRant: 'The official Moana runtime stands at one hour and 51 minutes, or 111 minutes.'