Catherine Laga’aia will star in Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation of Moana alongside Dwayne Johnson as Maui.
Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation of Moana will kick off manufacturing this summer season, and the studio introduced right now that Catherine Laga’aia will star because the title character alongside Dwayne Johnson as Maui.
“I’m really excited to embrace this character because Moana is one of my favorites,” Laga’aia mentioned within the press launch. “My grandfather comes from Fa‘aala, Palauli, in Savai‘i. And my grandmother is from Leulumoega Tuai on the main island of ‘Upolu in Samoa. I’m honored to have a possibility to have fun Samoa and all Pacific Island peoples, and to characterize younger ladies who appear like me.“
Becoming a member of Catherine Laga’aia and Dwayne Johnson within the live-action Moana film will probably be John Tui as Moana’s no-nonsense father, Chief Tui; Frankie Adams as Moana’s playful and strong-willed mom, Sina; and Rena Owen because the revered Gramma Tala. Director Thomas Kail mentioned, “I’m thrilled to have met Catherine, Rena, Frankie and John via this casting course of. I’m humbled by this chance, and I can’t wait to all be on set collectively. And there’s no higher pair to be in a canoe with than Catherine and Dwayne—truly, trio: Heihei is prepared, too.“
Auli’i Cravalho, who voiced Moana within the animated 2016 movie, is an govt producer on the undertaking. The actress has beforehand defined why she didn’t need to return to play the character in live-action. “It feels really important to me to pass the baton to the next young woman of Pacific Island descent, and I say that with my whole chest,” Cravalho advised The Wrap earlier this yr. “I have been invited, and I exist in these beautiful AAPI spaces, Asian American Pacific Islander, and I am one of the few Pacific Islanders. And I’ll say it again, I am one of the few Pacific Islanders. And our stories are so important to be told.” Nonetheless, Cravalho is returning for Moana 2. The animated sequel will reunite “Moana and Maui three years later for an expansive new voyage alongside a crew of unlikely seafarers. After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.” The sequel will hit theaters on November twenty seventh.
The live-action Moana is slated for a July 10, 2026 launch.
