MOANA 3 in Development

Variety has reported that Moana 3 is in development. Dwayne Johnson, who is currently promoting the live-action “Moana,” which opens in theaters on July 10, revealed an update on the third installment of the animated films.

“Yes, we have talked about ‘Moana 3,’ yes… But first, live-action ‘Moana,’ we’ll let that come out first. We have [the] amazing Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller, who have been our writers … they will pen ‘Moana 3.’”

Dwayne Jonson and Auliʻi Cravalho are expected to reprise their voice roles in the third film as Maui and Moana respectively. The first Moana film was released in 2016, and was produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The film was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements with a screenplay by Jared Bush. The songs were written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foaʻi, and Mark Mancina, who also composed the score. Moana grossed $248.7 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $438.4 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $687.2 million.

The sequel, Moana 2, was released in 2024. The music was written by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, the best known at the time for “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical.” It has not been announced who will write the music for the third installment.