Until earlier this year, Moana 2 wasn’t going to be a theatrical sequel. Instead, it was set up as a Moana animated series on Disney+. But since Disney is in dire need of an animated box office hit that wasn’t created by Pixar, the TV show was reshuffled into the film that’s currently playing in theaters.
Lin-Manuel Miranda — one of Disney’s most popular music collaborators of the past decade — did not return for the sequel. But his fellow songwriters Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa’i did come back to create new music for Moana 2. Most of the main cast members also returned, including Auliʻi Cravalho as Moana, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Maui, Temuera Morrison as Tui, Nicole Scherzinger as Sina, Rachel House as Tala, and Alan Tudyk as Hei Hei.
Now, it’s time to answer the question that brought you to this post.
No. Say what you will about Walt Disney Pictures, but the company does tend to learn from its mistakes. Eventually. Disney’s animated films are the crown jewels of the studio, and it’s never had a true blockbuster hit with a movie that premiered theatrically day-and-date with its Disney+ debut. It’s just not going to happen anytime soon, if ever again.
Longtime box-office observers may have already noticed that Disney’s animation studio has been on a cold streak. If Wish was a bomb, then Strange World was a nuclear blast. Even Encanto didn’t find its audience until it went to Disney+. Pixar — the other animation studio within Disney’s corporate umbrella — had similar issues until Elemental had a solid showing in 2023 and Inside Out 2 became the highest-grossing film of 2024. Is Moana 2 going to be able to do the same thing for Disney’s original animated studio? The jury is still out on that one.
Disney doesn’t have a set schedule to bring its movies to Disney+, but Inside Out 2 does give us a roadmap that may apply. That film arrived on Disney+ just over three months after its debut. It was also uncommonly successful at the box office, which probably lengthened its stay in theaters. Moana 2 will likely follow a similar path to streaming, which would put it on Disney+ near the end of February 2025 or the beginning of March 2025. In the unlikely event that Moana 2 bombs in theaters, it could have a quicker release on Disney+.
There may still be a push to bring Moana 2 to streaming sooner than usual simply because the first film has been such a phenomenal performer for Disney+. That may be shortsighted if it cuts into any Moana 2 Blu-ray sales ahead of its streaming debut. Regardless, this film was originally envisioned as a Disney+ project, so it’s only fitting that it return there after riding the waves at the box office.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.