It is back to the islands for Disney -- to ancient Polynesia.
Disney CEO Bob Iger on Wednesday revealed that the previously unnamed film scheduled to coincide with Thanksgiving will be a sequel to “Moana,” CNBC reported.
The beloved 2016 animated film starred Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Rachel House, according to IMDb.com.
Iger mentioned the “Moana″ sequel before Disney’s 2024 first-quarter fiscal report, according to CNBC.
In the sequel, Moana takes a dangerous journey to Oceania after hearing a call from her ancestors, The Associated Press reported. According to Disney, her trip is “an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.”
The sequel was turned into a feature film after Iger said he was impressed with the footage, Variety reported.
“This was originally developed as a series, but we were impressed with what we saw and we knew it deserved a theatrical release,” Iger said during the company’s earnings call, according to CNBC.
The film is scheduled to open in theaters on Nov. 27, Disney said in a news release.
Iger’s announcement a day after Nielsen’s year-end rankings named “Moana” as the top-streamed film aimed at children and families in 2023, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film had 11.6 billion minutes of viewing last year and has been Disney+ for more than two years, the entertainment news site reported.
The Moana sequel will premiere about six months after the release of “Inside Out 2,” the news outlet reported.
“‘Moana’ remains an incredibly popular franchise,” Iger said in a statement. “We can’t wait to give you more of Moana and Maui when ‘Moana 2′ comes to theaters this November.”
“Moana 2″ is separate from the studio’s live-action remake, according to Variety. That will star Johnson again as the tattooed demigod Maui, but Cravalho will not be in the live version but is expected to reprise her role in the animated sequel, the entertainment news website reported.
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