The full timeline
Day 0 (US wide release) is 10 Jul 2026. Filter by phase, market, tactic, mechanic, partner, evidence or origin; the address updates so you can share the view. Use the copy button on any card for a citation.
03 Apr 2023 T−1194
Bob Iger shared a recorded message from Johnson during Disney's annual shareholder meeting webcast. Johnson said a live-action Moana was in development, with himself producing through Seven Bucks Productions and Auli'i Cravalho as an executive producer.
USGLOBALConfirmed
Dwayne Johnson · Auli'i Cravalho · Talent as distribution
31 May 2023 T−1136
The Hollywood Reporter reported that Thomas Kail, who directed Hamilton on stage and for Disney+, would make his narrative feature debut on Moana.
USReported
Thomas Kail
05 Apr 2024 T−826
After Moana 2 was set for November 2024, Disney moved the live-action film from June 2025 to 10 July 2026 in a slate update.
GLOBALReported
Studio-led
12 Jun 2024 T−758
Disney announced 17-year-old Sydney native Catherine Laga'aia in the title role, with John Tui, Frankie Adams and Rena Owen as Moana's family. Laga'aia's statement named her grandparents' villages in Samoa.
GLOBALAUNZReported
Catherine Laga'aia
27 Nov 2024 T−590
Photographers on boats caught Johnson in costume during the Hawaii shoot. He told Extra the physique was a tattooed bodysuit that took hours to put on.
USGLOBALReported
Dwayne Johnson
04 Aug 2025 T−340
Citing The Wall Street Journal, Deadline reported that Disney had explored layering an AI-generated version of Johnson's face onto a body double, then dropped the idea over ownership and publicity concerns.
USGLOBALReported
Dwayne Johnson
26 Mar 2026 T−106
Social media users, including Weird Al Yankovic, mocked the curly wig worn by the usually bald Johnson. Variety reported the film would not undergo creative changes. Johnson and Kail explained the wig and 40-pound bodysuit in an Entertainment Weekly interview.
GLOBALReported
Dwayne Johnson · Thomas Kail
08 Jun 2026 T−32
From 11 June, US Subway guests could add $1 to any meal for one of five collectible Moana cups. A QR code on the cup led to a receipt upload and a $15 Fandango promo code for the film. Subway also ran an in-app takeover and social content.
USConfirmed
Subway · Fandango · Scarcity & collectibles · Physical-to-digital
15 Jun 2026 T−25
The only new song, written by Miranda, pairs the animated Moana, Auli'i Cravalho, with Laga'aia and Johnson. Disney released the single, a music video and a featurette, with a UK premiere on BBC Radio 2. Disney set the soundtrack for 26 June and an inspired-by album for 31 July.
GLOBALUKConfirmed
Lin-Manuel Miranda · Auli'i Cravalho · Catherine Laga'aia · Dwayne Johnson
15 Jun 2026 T−25
Johnson posted that a "Live Action Moana Tour" would start in Hawai'i and visit Shanghai, Sydney, London, Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Puerto Rico, Los Angeles, New York and Tokyo. He opened it in Hawai'i with Cravalho and Laga'aia.
USGLOBALReported
Dwayne Johnson · Auli'i Cravalho · Catherine Laga'aia · Talent as distribution
Based on Johnson's Instagram posts as reported by Variety Australia and IANS; the desk has not opened the posts.
18 Jun 2026 T−22
Deadline reported three-week tracking of $85M for North America, with strongest interest among women over 25, while noting Toy Story 5 and Minions & Monsters in the same corridor.
USReported
Fan / organic
29 Jun 2026 T−11
Johnson and Laga'aia opened a Moana and Lilo & Stitch themed sensory play space at the London children's hospital, built by Disney UK and GOSH Charity, with a water game that lets children move water like Moana.
UKConfirmed
Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity · Dwayne Johnson · Catherine Laga'aia
30 Jun 2026 T−10
Disney ran a free 10,000 sq ft Moana Experience at Potters Fields Park with a giant fishhook, the canoe, hula and ori dancers, a pig petting farm, lei workshops and karaoke. Johnson and Laga'aia attended and surprised pupils from a Colchester school whose TikTok to Johnson had gone viral.
UKConfirmed
Dwayne Johnson · Catherine Laga'aia · Auli'i Cravalho · TikTok · Creator access
02 Jul 2026 T−8
At a Rio de Janeiro press conference, Johnson said a third Moana film had been discussed and that Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller would write it, adding it would take time.
BRReported
Dwayne Johnson · Talent as distribution
17 Nov 2025 T−235
Disney released a one-minute teaser with first-look images of Laga'aia, the ocean and the Kakamora, alongside an IMAX version. Deadline reported 182 million views in the first 24 hours.
GLOBALConfirmed
IMAX
The teaser is confirmed by Disney's channel; the view count is reported by Deadline, which does not name its source.
23 Mar 2026 T−109
Disney released the official trailer, new stills, a poster and an "Artistry of Moana" featurette. Variety reported 132 million views across platforms in the first 24 hours.
GLOBALConfirmed
Dwayne Johnson · Catherine Laga'aia
10 Jun 2026 T−30
Disney released a final trailer and opened ticket sales. The trailer revealed Jemaine Clement returning as the voice of Tamatoa, his role in the animated film.
GLOBALUSUKConfirmed
Jemaine Clement
16 Apr 2026 T−85
At Disney's CinemaCon presentation in Las Vegas, Johnson and Laga'aia introduced an extended look with "How Far I'll Go" and "You're Welcome". Johnson told exhibitors Maui shows "what real masculinity looks like".
USReported
Dwayne Johnson · Catherine Laga'aia
11 Jun 2026 T−29
Hawaiian Airlines unveiled a Moana livery on an Airbus A321neo flying between Hawai'i, the US West Coast and the Cook Islands, with the line "Voyage beyond the reef". An A330 and a Boeing 717 were to follow in July, with character art on overhead bins.
USConfirmed
Hawaiian Airlines
23 Jun 2026 T−17
Johnson did a Moana-themed photo call on The Bund and met fans at an event at Shanghai Disney Resort.
CNConfirmed
Dwayne Johnson · Talent as distribution
25 Jun 2026 T−15
Johnson, Laga'aia and Kail held a presentation at ICC Sydney that began with a live set by songwriter Opetaia Foa'i and his band Te Vaka, then did a photo call at the Bondi Icebergs pool.
AUConfirmed
Dwayne Johnson · Catherine Laga'aia · Thomas Kail · Opetaia Foa'i · Te Vaka
07 Jul 2026 T−3
Disney held the world premiere at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Fireworks set to "Along the Way" closed the night. On the carpet Johnson told Variety he went through 12 wigs and laughed at the memes.
USConfirmed
Dwayne Johnson · Catherine Laga'aia · Lin-Manuel Miranda · Thomas Kail · Spectacle for social proof
Venue confirmed by Disney's D23 video title and Deadline; event details reported.
07 Jul 2026 T−3
Walt Disney Studios India promoted a 10 July release in English and Hindi on its YouTube channel.
INConfirmed
Studio-led
08 Jul 2026 T−2
D23 listed the release products: Mattel dolls including a singing Moana, Funko Pops, LEGO sets, a Loungefly backpack, an adidas kids' collection, ALOHA bags, Pandora jewellery and HEYDUDE shoes.
USConfirmed
Mattel · LEGO · Funko · Loungefly · adidas · ALOHA · Pandora · HEYDUDE
09 Jul 2026 T−1
Johnson, Miranda, Kail and Cravalho attended a red-carpet screening at the United Palace theatre, where Johnson and Miranda sang "You're Welcome".
USReported
Dwayne Johnson · Lin-Manuel Miranda · Thomas Kail · Auli'i Cravalho
10 Jul 2026 T0
Moana opened in about 3,875 North American theatres, after $4.5M in Thursday previews. Most international markets had opened from 8 July. Disney's parks blog published a guide to Moana across its parks the same day.
USCAGLOBALReported
IMAX
11 Jul 2026 T+1
Disney posted a "#1 In The World" spot on opening weekend. Its UK press office reported a £2.8M UK and Ireland opening and No. 1 position.
GLOBALUKConfirmed
Studio-led
12 Jul 2026 T+2
Citing sources, Deadline projected a first-cycle loss of $100M to $125M on a $250M production budget and an estimated $145M global P&A spend. Disney did not comment. Deadline blamed the date, close to Moana 2 and Disney's own Toy Story 5.
GLOBALReported
Fan / organic
12 Jul 2026 T+2
Moana opened to $43.1M in North America and $95.1M worldwide against a $130M global hope. Audiences gave an A- CinemaScore. Premium screens took 37% of the domestic gross. In PostTrak, 39% said they came because it looked fun and 16% because they are Johnson fans.
USGLOBALReported
Fan / organic
13 Jul 2026 T+3
Deadline reported No. 1 non-local openings in Australia ($5.3M), France ($5.2M), Korea ($3.8M), the UK ($3.7M), Germany and Spain, with Toy Story 5 ahead in Brazil and Mexico. In Korea, KOBIS data showed a 36.5% weekend market share.
AUFRKRUKDEESBRMXReported
Fan / organic
20 Jul 2026 T+10
Ahead of Japan's 31 July release, Johnson and Laga'aia walked a blue carpet at Yebisu Garden Place and attended a screening at Toho Cinemas Hibiya. Maui's Japanese voice, Matsuya Onoe, played taiko and Moana's, TSUZUMI, sang "How Far I'll Go".
JPReported
Dwayne Johnson · Catherine Laga'aia · Matsuya Onoe · TSUZUMI · Cultural transposition
08 Aug 2026 T+29
Johnson told People that bad reviews are "just the way it goes" and that what mattered was that "the culture really stood up". Deadline put the global gross at $266M at the time.
USReported
Dwayne Johnson
19 Aug 2026 T+40
Italy released the film on 19 August, outside the July rollout, and opened to $4.4M according to The Numbers.
ITReported
Studio-led
31 Jul 2026 T+21
Eiga.com reported 256,644 admissions and ¥370M in the first three days, slightly above Mufasa's ¥366M opening.
JPReported
Fan / organic
05 Aug 2026 T+26
In a shareholder letter, CEO Josh D'Amaro said Moana did not meet box-office expectations but was expected to be a strong Disney+ title. CFO Hugh Johnston called theatrical "just one data point".
GLOBALReported
Studio-led
01 Oct 2026 T+83
At Bloomberg's Screentime, Disney's president said the film was hurt by arriving about 18 months after Moana 2, leaving too little pent-up demand.
GLOBALReported
Studio-led
19 Oct 2026 T+101
The Numbers lists $126.2M domestic and $197.6M international, $323.8M worldwide. France ($20.5M), the UK ($19.7M) and Germany ($16.0M) were the largest international markets.
GLOBALUSReported
Fan / organic
01 Sep 2026 T+53
Disney announced digital purchase and rental from 8 September, with 4K, Blu-ray, DVD and a SteelBook on 6 October. Extras include a sing-along version and features on casting, choreography, costumes and "Along the Way". Disney UK called it "Verified Hot" on Rotten Tomatoes' audience score.
USUKConfirmed
Studio-led
13 Oct 2026 T+95
Disney+ announced the streaming date and said the animated original is its most-watched film, with over 1.5 billion hours streamed.
GLOBALConfirmed
Studio-led
17 Oct 2026 T+99
Disney+ and Disney announced a community beach cleanup in Los Angeles with the nonprofit Heal the Bay on 17 October, ahead of the Disney+ premiere.
USReported
Heal the Bay
Announced in advance; the desk has not confirmed that the cleanup took place as planned.
