It's long been known to be in the works, and now Disney is making it official by announcing the release date for its upcoming live-action version of Moana with Dwayne Johnson. The film will premiere on June 27, 2025, which is actually about a week earlier than its previously announced premiere date of July 2, 2025.

The news was a bit of a surprise given that most upcoming Disney movies being discussed today are having their release dates drastically delayed because of the ongoing WGA strike — including many MCU releases as well as the next three sequels in the Avatar franchise, all of which are being pushed back by a year or more.

The live-action Moana remake is a high priority for the studio — with the massive success of 2016's animated Moana as well as Disney's string of box office hits remaking its array of animated classics as live-action films.

The recent The Little Mermaid live-action remake has made over $400 million worldwide to date while garnering largely positive reviews. The live-action Aladdin, which like Moana featured an A-list blockbuster star in Will Smith, made over $1 billion worldwide.

But Moana will be the first animated-to-live-action Disney film to feature one of the primary voice actors in the animated version also playing the role in the live-action remake. Dwayne Johnson, who sang his musical numbers in the animated film, should have no problem bringing the live-action role of Maui to life just as he did in animated form. After the news that animated Moana lead voice actor Auli'i Cravalho will not be reprising her role in the live-action version, the main Moana news yet to be determined is just who will be playing the titular character alongside Johnson.