Disney is experiencing a bittersweet moment: The premiere of “Moana,” the live-action version, did not reach estimated projections, according to data from Box Office Mojo.

Although the film managed to reach number one at the North American box office, its opening weekend gross of $43 million in 3,827 theaters is considered disastrous by analysts.

The situation is aggravated when considering the enormous production budget of $250 million, to which is added a considerable investment in marketing, which makes the path to profitability extremely uphill, as described by Variety.

Internationally, the picture was no more encouraging, with $52 million raised in 50 markets, for a total worldwide debut of 95 million. Not only did these numbers fall well short of Disney's initial projections, which estimated a domestic debut of between $60 million and $65 million, but they put "Moana" in direct competition with the flop "Snow White" for the title of worst opening among the company's live-action remakes.

The problem

One of the main factors pointed out by experts to explain this setback is the timing of the premiere. David A. Gross, editor of the box office newsletter FranchiseRe, notes: "The last 'Moana' movie was a smash hit 20 months ago, but that makes this remake a very brief comeback. This story wasn't ready to return, and audiences are in no rush to see it," Variety reported.

The remake arrives in theaters a decade after the original 2016 animated musical and, more critically, less than two years after the release of the hit animated sequel “Moana 2,” which grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.

This temporal closeness contrasts with the success of other Disney remakes, such as “The Lion King”, “Aladdin” or “Beauty and the Beast”, which were based on films from the 90s and early 2000s, a period that seems to be the “sweet spot” for the public's nostalgia.

The film, directed by Thomas Kail and starring Catherine Laga'aia and Dwayne Johnson, was rejected by critics, earning a score of just 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have called the film “unfunny,” “boring,” and “unnecessary,” with some reviews going so far as to say that it seemed “made by artificial intelligence.”

However, theater audiences had a more favorable opinion, giving it an “A-” rating in CinemaScore polls and a 90% approval rating in Rotten Tomatoes audience reviews. This division between critics and audiences is not new in Disney remakes, but in this case it has not been enough to boost the box office.

Despite this hard setback, it may be that in the coming weeks the performance of “Moana” will be more favorable.