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‘Moana 2’ Was Supposed to Be a Disney+ Series. Why It’s Hitting Movie Theaters Instead
Inside Disney's decision to reconfigure "Moana 2" from a Disney+ streaming series to a theatrical tentpole releasing this fall.
It’s a boon for cinemas after last summer’s strikes forced studios to postpone plenty of blockbusters to 2025 and beyond.It also signals Disney’s renewed excitement for the big screen at a time when Hollywood has started to prefer the economics of selling movie tickets to a business model that was all about trying to steal Netflix’s thunder. “ Moana 2 ” joins the studio’s upcoming “Alien” spinoff “Romulus” and 2022’s horror film “Barbarian,” as well as Paramount’s “Mean Girls” movie musical and psychological thriller “Smile,” as projects that were commissioned for streaming but ultimately scored exclusive theatrical releases. Disney veterans John Musker and Ron Clements (of “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin” and “Hercules”) passed directing duties to Dave Derrick Jr., whose credits include “Raya and the Last Dragon” and “Encanto.”
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