When is the live-action ‘Moana’ headed to streaming?
When is the live-action ‘Moana’ headed to streaming?
We’ll give our best guess as to when you’ll be able to watch the adaptation at home.
Disney’s next live-action remake is setting sail for the island of Motunui. “Moana” is coming to theaters on July 10. After a wait of several months between the release of the trailer and the movie’s premiere, fans can finally head to cinemas on Friday to watch it for themselves. But when will “Moana” stream at home? We’ll explain everything you need to know below!
Key Details:
- See it now: Disney has released the trailer for the new live-action “Moana” film.
- No doubt: The movie will stream on Disney+ once it’s released.
- Past experience: Previous live-action adaptations from the studio have taken more than 100 days to reach streaming.
Moana lives on the beautiful island of Motonui with her family, and life seems idyllic. But when she receives a summons from the ocean itself, Moana departs her home, traveling past its treacherous barrier reef to restore the well-being of her community. Accompanied by the demigod Maui, Moana will stop at nothing to fulfill her quest.
The film stars Catherine Laga’aia as Moana, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is reprising his role as Maui from the animated films. John Tui will portray Chief Tui, with Frankie Adams set to play Sina, and Rena Owen as Gramma Tala. It will be released widely in theaters in the United States on Friday, July 10.
Reviews thus far indicate that the live-action version of the film hews closely to its animated predecessor — perhaps to a fault. “Moana” currently has a 37% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 45 score on Metacritic, indicating “Mixed or Average” reviews. Most critics say the movie is too much a remake of the original, but fans who loved the animated “Moana” will still have plenty to enjoy.
Watch the trailer for ‘Moana’
When will ‘Moana’ stream on Disney+?
Disney is clearly counting on the live-action “Moana” to be a tentpole release for the summer. We know the movie will stream on Disney+ with its animated predecessors eventually, but it could be a long wait for the film to arrive on that service. Hulu will probably get a chance to stream the movie as well, though the status of the standalone Hulu app is a bit up in the air at the moment.
The last animated movie from Disney to get the live-action treatment was “Lilo & Stitch,” which came out in May 2025. The movie didn’t stream on Disney+ until September, 103 days after its initial release. The adaptation of “Snow White,” however, was released on Disney+ less than 90 days after first hitting cinemas.
I think “Moana” will follow the longer release pattern, unless it suffers a box-office disaster brought on by lackluster reviews. For now, I’ll predict the movie will stream on Disney+ on Wednesday, Oct. 21 — 103 days after the movie’s initial release in theaters. Fans of the character can stream both animated “Moana” movies on Disney+ now!
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”