There was apparently no call for “Moana,” which grossed just $52 million in its international box office debut.

Disney’s latest live-action remake struggled to make a splash with $43 million domestic and $95 million worldwide, a catastrophic start given the film cost $250 million to produce. Heading into the weekend, Disney was projecting a launch of $75 million overseas and $130 million to $140 million worldwide.

The top territories were Australia with $5.3 million, France with $5.2 million and Korea with $3.8 million. Meanwhile, “Moana” bombed in China with $1.2 million.

“Moana” is one of the worst starts among Disney’s live-action remakes, joining the ranks of 2025’s “Snow White,” which grossed $44 million overseas and $87 million worldwide. Analysts at the time argued that “Snow White” failed in part because the property, based on a 1937 film, was too old and doesn’t have the same cultural cache among today’s audiences. Meanwhile, “Moana” might be too recent. The original animated adventure premiered in 2016, while the billion-dollar sequel hit theaters less than two years ago, around Thanksgiving 2024. Nostalgia has been important in Disney’s live-action remakes and adaptations from the ’90s and early ’00s, such as last year’s “Lilo & Stitch,” “The Lion King,” “Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast,” all which exceeded one billion dollars, seem fair. the best. A remake of 2010’s “Tangled” is in the works for 2028.

Thomas Kail (“Hamilton”) directed “Moana,” which follows the same story as the original: the headstrong daughter of a village chief is chosen by the ocean to restore prosperity to her island. Newcomer Catherine Laga’aia stars as Moana, while Dwayne Johnson reprises his role from the animated films as the demigod Maui, who helps the Polynesian heroine on her journey. Although critics panned the film, audiences were much friendlier, which could help in terms of word of mouth. However, “Moana” has fierce competition from two other family-friendly sequels, “Toy Story 5” and “Minions & Monsters.”

Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” continued to tie in its fourth weekend with $45 million in 50 markets. The children’s film has generated $879.1 million worldwide, including $475.3 million overseas and $403.8 million domestically. It’s on track to be the 31-year-old property’s biggest property, a distinction that currently belongs to 2019’s “Toy Story 4” ($1.07 billion).

“Minions and Monsters” brought in $39 million from 79 territories in its second release, a 44% drop from its international debut. So far, the “Despicable Me” spinoff has generated $171 million overseas and $280 million worldwide. Although the newest “Minions” may end up being the lowest-grossing entry in Universal’s hit franchise, this installment was produced for $85 million and will make a profit for the studio.

Another new release, “Evil Dead Burn,” earned just $13.3 million upon its release at the international box office. Along with a tepid $13.7 million domestically, the R-rated horror film has grossed $27 million worldwide. “Evil Dead Burn” had the biggest start in India with $1.5 million, followed by the United Kingdom with $1.2 million and Mexico with $1.1 million. Sony will release the film at the international box office, while Warner Bros. will handle domestic distribution.

Initial ticket sales were below the franchise’s previous entry, 2023’s “Evil Dead Rise,” although “Evil Dead Burn” has a modest $20 million production budget and won’t require too many coins to break out of the negative number. This is the sixth installment of “Evil Dead,” which began with Sam Raimi’s 1981 low-budget thriller “The Evil Dead.” A seventh chapter, “Evil Dead Wrath,” is scheduled for 2028.

Also of note is that “Michael” surpassed $1 billion at the global box office, becoming the second film of 2026 and the first biopic to cross that coveted milestone. Universal, which released “Michael” internationally, produced this year’s other billion-dollar hit, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.”

“From its opening weekend to this historic milestone, Michael resonated with moviegoers around the world and transcended the screen to become a cultural phenomenon,” said Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, president of Universal Pictures International. “It has been a great privilege to bring this groundbreaking film to international audiences.”