When Bob Iger returned to the Disney CEO throne at the end of 2022, his first order of business was to dismantle a structure that saw the studio’s distribution and creative divisions operating separately. Instead, he put distribution and marketing under the control of Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman. One year later, Iger made clear that Disney would stay far away from the culture wars that had taken a toll on the company’s stock price amid a revolt from conservative consumers. “Creators lost sight of what their No. 1 objective needed to be,” he said at the DealBook Summit. “We have to entertain first. It’s not about messages.”
Fast-forward to 2024, and “Moana 2” marks the fulfilment of those two adjustments—a movie able to pivot from its planned release on Disney+ and escape the wrath of right-wing influencers who believe the studio had been pushing a “woke” ideology, a perception stoked by activist shareholder Nelson Peltz. The animated sequel, which features a voice cast led by Dwayne Johnson—an actor whose appeal straddles both sides of the political divide—shattered Thanksgiving box office records en route to a $386 million worldwide haul. Disney appears to have gotten its groove back following misfires like “The Marvels” and “Wish.”
“Disney had been for a long time on top, and everything had been smooth sailing,” says box office analyst Jeff Bock of Exhibitor Relations. “And then they ran into some rough waters. And this is ‘Moana’ sailing away from that and back to the promised land.”
Less than a year ago, the “Moana” follow-up was poised to be a streaming series rather than a feature theatrical release. Moving it posed a risk that could have backfired, but Bergman felt the project was worthy of a cinematic bow. In February, the animated sequel relocated from Disney’s Vancouver studio to a production facility on the Burbank lot, with everyone working on an aggressive timeline to keep the Nov. 27 release date. With a renewed emphasis on the theatrical strategy, the studio also reversed course on this year’s “The First Omen” and “Alien: Romulus,” which were intended for streaming.
Though Disney at times has struggled post-COVID across all its divisions, including Pixar (“Lightyear”) and live action (“The Little Mermaid,” “Haunted Mansion”), the idea that it had lost its mojo may be an overstatement. After all, the studio was No. 1 at the global box office from 2016 to 2022. In 2023, Disney lost the top spot to Universal by just $80 million despite releasing seven fewer movies. And the studio delivered two enormous hits this past year with “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Inside Out 2,” which amassed more than $3 billion combined.
Still, Disney began to surrender the narrative, with the likes of Peltz and Elon Musk criticizing the studio for pushing liberal values over storytelling. The ensuing social media noise often created a self-fulfilling prophecy of a bomb before a film opened, as happened when conservative commentator Ben Shapiro targeted “Lightyear” for giving significant screen time to a lesbian couple who were not part of the “Toy Story” franchise.
“Moana 2” didn’t stray far from the original and didn’t spark political outrage. The sole blip came via the film’s voice actress, Nicole Scherzinger: When Russell Brand posted on Instagram a photo of himself in a MAGA-style hat that read “Make Jesus First Again,” she replied enthusiastically, “Where do I get this hat!!!?” Left-wing voices objected to the Election Day missive, and Scherzinger deleted it. Things died down.
Looking ahead, analysts believe that a live-action “Mufasa” and “Lilo & Stitch” and an animated “Zootopia” sequel will extend the studio’s streak. But one upcoming release, March’s live-action “Snow White,” has been dogged by expensive reshoots and controversies related to star Rachel Zegler’s social media posts. The actress declined to take down a tweet thread that promoted the $240 million movie with a “free palestine” postscript but did apologize for a “Fuck Donald Trump” and “May Trump supporters… never know peace” Instagram post. Wading into divisive issues, as Zegler has done, isn’t part of Disney’s new playbook.
“We just had an election, and in very rough terms, half of the voters supported one side and half supported the other side,” says Guggenheim Securities’ Michael Morris, speaking generally and not about Scherzinger or Zegler specifically. “And if I am a company that is trying to connect with the broadest potential audience and I cut that addressable market in half before I even release the product, I’m really limiting my ability to maximize the value of the product. That’s why it’s important to entertain first and foremost.”
With the success of “Moana 2,” the studio has set the table for a live-action feature based on the property set for July 10, 2026. Disney’s ability to turn its beloved homegrown animated favorites into live-action hits—like “The Jungle Book” and “Beauty and the Beast”—has become a cornerstone of the studio’s economic health—a symbiotic loop with the original driving awareness for the adaptation and the adaptation pushing audiences back to view the original on Disney+. Case in point: “Moana” was the No. 1 movie in all of streaming in 2023, seven years after it landed in theaters, according to Nielsen.
Meanwhile, the live-action division headed up by David Greenbaum will continue to mine some of the most valuable IP in Hollywood. All eyes are trained on the $4.53 billion “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise and the prospect of another sequel.
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Sources say the studio has not engaged with Johnny Depp, the franchise’s biggest draw, who found himself exiled by Disney after ex-wife Amber Heard accused him of domestic abuse. But Depp prevailed in a 2022 defamation case against the actress and has been on the comeback trail.
“Pirates” producer Jerry Bruckheimer is developing two versions of the script on parallel tracks, one that could bring Depp back into the fold if the actor and Disney can reconcile.
“Nothing has been ruled out,” says one knowledgeable source.
