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Moana 2 already looks like Disney's next billion dollar box office hit

By Matthew Liebl

AN UNEXPECTED CALL – In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ all-new feature film “Moana 2,” Moana (voice of Auli‘i Cravalho) receives an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors and must journey into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced. Directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller, and produced by Christina Chen and Yvett Merino, “Moana 2” features music by Grammy® winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Grammy nominee Opetaia Foa‘i,
AN UNEXPECTED CALL – In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ all-new feature film “Moana 2,” Moana (voice of Auli‘i Cravalho) receives an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors and must journey into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced. Directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller, and produced by Christina Chen and Yvett Merino, “Moana 2” features music by Grammy® winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Grammy nominee Opetaia Foa‘i, /
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I won't lie, when Disney first announced its Moana 2, I had my reservations. Apparently, I wasn't the only one. Our very own Michael Weyer had an entire list of why fans should be worried about the sequel to the 2016 blockbuster film from Walt Disney Animation Studios.

But watching the first official trailer for Moana 2 coming out of D23 this weekend, I'm now incredibly excited for the film. The latest trailer gives us our best look yet at Moana's next seafaring adventure as well as an official synopsis for the movie.

"Before Maui stole Te Fiti's heart, our ancestors wanted to connect our island to all the people of the entire ocean," Moana explains. "It's my job as a Wayfinder to finish what they started."

Set three years after the events of 2016's Moana, our titular seafaring Wayfinder receives an unexpected call from her ancestors. Moana — along with a crew of unlikely seafarers — must journey to the far seas of Oceania to set foot on an ancient island hidden within a terrible storm.

Stars Auli'i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson have returned to reprise their roles of Moana and Maui. The trailer also revealed that Moana is now a big sister to the adorable Simea (voiced by Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda).

While the trailer is focused mostly on Moana and Maui, Cravalho was sure to draw attention to the film's main villain, teasing: “wait ’til you see the villain we have in this one. It is the storm of all storms.” We get a very brief glimpse of the storm in the trailer at around the 1:20 mark.

I know many were skeptical when Moana 2 was first announced, mostly due to all of the uncertainty surrounding the film, but the more we learn and see with this film, the more excited I get. Following the record-breaking success of Pixar's Inside Out 2, I believe Disney has finally found its magic again.

Moana wasn't a massive box office success when it released in 2016, although it did finish with a worldwide total of $687 million. With years of build-up since then, I could easily see Moana 2 eclipsing the billion dollar mark when it releases this year.

Moana 2 arrives in theaters on November 27, 2024. There's also a live-action Moana movie coming a few months later with Johnson, who is reprising his role as Maui, confirming that production will begin this summer.

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