Dwayne Johnson’s Moana Live-Action Movie Salary Is Massive Despite Box-Office Bomb

Dwayne Johnson is making money despite Moana‘s growing box office struggles. Disney’s live-action remake of its popular animated blockbuster franchise is failing to fill theater seats. Directed by Thomas Kail, the movie debuted last week despite disappointing projections.

What is Dwayne Johnson’s salary for the Moana live-action movie?

It’s been revealed that Dwayne Johnson took nearly $30 million as salary for the live-action Moana movie, according to Variety. Besides featuring in the title, reprising his role of Maui from the animated franchise, Johnson also served as the producer on the project.

The Rock’s payday is significant, though, given Moana’s current performance. The movie was made on a $250 million budget, excluding the $120 million spent on marketing. Early projections were already low, but it opened even lower than expected.

Last month, Moana was predicted to open somewhere between $80 million and $105 million during its first domestic weekend. It was also expected to gross close to $300 million in North America during its overall theatrical run.

Just days before its release, however, the new projections signaled a domestic opening week of just $45 million to $60 million. Well, Moana arrived even below these numbers. It opened with just $43 million in North America and $95 million internationally.

While critics have panned the live-action remake, fans have embraced it wholeheartedly. It becomes evident from Moana’s highly impressive 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.

At this point, only positive word of mouth can save the movie if it is to succeed at the box office. But that seems highly unlikely, considering the massive production costs and its poor performance in attracting footfall.

One can assume Moana will end up being one of Disney’s biggest bombs in recent years, after Snow White in 2025. The Rachel Zegler film made the company lose nearly $170 million. As for Moana, it may end up hurting Disney, resulting in a loss of between $100 million and $125 million by the end of its theatrical run.

Besides Johnson, the movie also stars Catherine Laga’aia, who portrays the lead character, Moana, in the live-action adaptation.

Source: Comingsoon.net