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Preview:
- The live-action ‘Moana’ topped the box office this weekend.
- ‘Evil Dead Burn’ launched in second.
- ‘Minions & Monsters’ fell to third.
Moana herself may know the way, but it seems audiences didn’t have the same faith in the live-action take on her animated adventures. Despite plenty of hype, the 2026 incarnation of ‘Moana’ opened to a franchise low $43 million.
That’s a disappointment for Disney, which saw the original 2016 movie open to $56 million, while the sequel did even better with a Thanksgiving record $226 million.
Clearly fans were less willing to embrace a live-action story, especially one that mostly repeated the same beats but to lesser critical reaction. Globally, the movie is also not performing the way the studio might hope, launching to $95 million in total.
Related Article: ‘Minions & Monsters’ Underperforms But Still Rules at July 4 Box Office
Top Five Movies at the Box Office
1. ‘Moana’ -$43 million
2. ‘Minions & Monsters’ -$20.5 million
3. ‘Toy Story 5’ -$18.5 million
4. ‘Evil Dead Burn’ -$13.7 million
5. 'Young Washington' -$6.44 million
What else happened at the box office this weekend?
Last week’s champ, ‘Minions & Monsters,’ slipped to second on $20.5 million, while Disney can assuage its ‘Moana’ fears with the continued success of Pixar’s ‘Toy Story 5,’ with $18.5 million this weekend and $404.2 million after four weeks on release.
‘Evil Dead Burn,’ the latest offering spawned from Sam Raimi’s venerable horror franchise, took fourth place, earning $13.7 million. The Sébastien Vanicek-directed entry, opened below the previous movie, ‘Evil Dead Rise,’ but should still earn a profit given the low budget of these films.
Angel Studios' 'Young Washington' cratered following its successful opening, losing 72% for a $6.44 million second weekend.
Finally, on much more limited release, Olivia Wilde’s drama ‘The Invite’ expanded to earn $5.7 million for sixth place.
