Moana 3 sets sail at Disney, Dwayne Johnson reveals

Disney is apparently not done sailing with Moana—surprised? Me neither. If you thought the ocean was calm after Moana 2, think again, because Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) has made it fairly obvious that a third outing is on the cards. Granted, Disney hasn't waved the official flag yet, but Johnson's been chatting about it openly enough that you don't need a crystal ball to see where things are heading.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Opens Up

So, here's how it played out: at a recent press conference in Rio for the whole Moana juggernaut, Johnson straight-up admitted he's had discussions with Disney about a potential Moana 3. His words on the topic:

'Yes, we have talked about 'Moana 3', yes. But first, live-action Moana, we’ll let that come out first. We have the amazing Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller, who have been our writers … they will pen Moana 3.'

In other words, they're not going to get ahead of themselves, but they’re absolutely looking at another animated sequel—script already being sorted by the same duo who’ve made the franchise work so far. Johnson and Auli'i Cravalho (that's Moana herself) are both lined up to return for voice work, because of course they are. Not that Disney’s about to fix anything that isn’t making money.

Show Me The Money (and Why Disney's Keen)

Let’s put the numbers front and centre here. The original Moana from 2016 hauled in about $680 million worldwide, which is practically pocket change considering its sequel, Moana 2, released in 2024, nearly doubled it—scraping past the $1 billion mark globally. That alone makes a threequel a no-brainer, really.

Meanwhile, there's the live-action remake of Moana on the horizon, dropping into cinemas 10 July—and you probably won't miss it, even if you try. Dwayne Johnson is still on board (literally) as Maui, but Moana herself gets a new face: Catherine Laga'aia. Some other fresh names in the line-up:

• John Tui as Chief Tui
• Frankie Adams as Sina
• Rena Owen as Gramma Tala
• Jemaine Clement returning as Tamatoa, the massive, scene-stealing crab

All told, the only number we don’t know yet is how big the live-action box office haul will be. But given the Lilo & Stitch remake pulled in over $1 billion last year (by contrast, Snow White limped to $205.6 million), it’s not the worst gamble for Disney. Would anyone even be shocked if they announced a live-action sequel next summer?

On to Number Three (Because Why Wouldn’t They?)

I’ll be honest, I haven’t actually caught Moana 2 myself—yet. In fact, it’s on my vague list sandwiched somewhere between finally watching Hoppers and cleaning the oven. Maybe I’ll make a double-bill of it on my next day off. But the real question is: even if Disney didn’t have a fresh idea, would that stop them? Highly doubtful.

Still, you’d be hard-pressed to argue with the formula. The first Moana was actually brilliant, and I can see why they’d want more adventures for her and Maui. If Disney’s writers can come up with something as charming (and profitable) as before, there’s certainly an audience for it. Whether I’m ready for more tropical musical numbers or not is a problem for future me.