Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently appeared on a live taping of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, held at Chapman University in Orange County before an audience of faculty and film students.
During the conversation, the wrestler-turned-actor opened up about his journey from the wrestling ring to Hollywood and dropped an exciting update about one of Disney’s biggest upcoming projects.
According to Johnson, production on Disney’s live-action Moana remake has officially wrapped, finishing nearly eight months ahead of its scheduled July 10, 2026 theatrical release.
"Playing Maui has been the gift of a lifetime. Growing up as a Samoan — half Samoan and half black — in Samoan culture, Polynesian culture? We’re proud people. Proud of our culture. And what Moana has represented is a really awesome global embrace of Polynesian culture, our values and our qualities and our pride and our mana," said the Fast and Furious actor to the students in the crowd.
He continued, "Today’s Tuesday. Just this past Friday, around 8:00 pm, we officially wrapped the live-action version of Moana, so we can’t wait. This upcoming summer, you guys will see live-action Moana, and it’s going to be pretty cool. I spent an entire week shooting “You’re Welcome,” and the singing and the choreography is crazy. [Students whoop with excitement, urging him to sing it.] No, no, no, you’re not ready for that. No, you’re not ready. [Johnson sings “You’re Welcome” and the students go wild.]"
Previously discussing the live-action Moana movie, the Rock teased, "Lin Manuel Miranda's coming back. We're doing the music. Tommy Kail is our director, who directed Hamilton. You put everybody together and you want to put the best team together and then you really go for it."
While Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is returning to reprise his role as Maui, newcomer Catherine Laga‘aia will take on the mantle of Moana, as original voice actress Auliʻi Cravalho has aged out of the role.
However, unconfirmed reports suggest that Cravalho may still appear in the film, possibly as the physical embodiment of Te Fiti.
The cast also includes John Tui as Chief Tui, Rena Owen as Gramma Tala, and Frankie Adams as Sina.
Disney’s live-action Moana follows the massive success of Lilo & Stitch, currently the second-highest-grossing global film of 2025 behind Ne Zha 2.
If box office momentum continues, the ocean adventure could pave the way for Disney’s next wave of remakes, rumored to include live-action versions of Tangled and Hercules.