Moana and Evil Dead Burn open to underwhelming box office

Disney's live-action 'Moana' opened to a disappointing $95 million worldwide ($43 million domestically), falling short of expectations of $60–65 million in North America and $140 million globally. The $250-million film was the #1 movie but barely outpaced last year's 'Snow White' ($42.2 million domestic), making it one of Disney's lowest-grossing live-action remakes Source: The Guardian. Audiences gave it an A- CinemaScore and 63% would definitely recommend, yet critics savaged it with a 34% Rotten Tomatoes score for being a nearly shot-for-shot copy Source: LA Times.

Competing for families

Analyst Paul Dergarabedian noted PG-rated oversaturation: Universal's 'Minions & Monsters' ($20.5 million) and Disney's own 'Toy Story 5' ($18.5 million, with $879.1 million globally) split the family audience Source: CNA. 'Moana' may need a long tail, similar to 2024's 'Mufasa' which opened to $35 million but finished above $722 million Source: LA Times.

Horror takes a hit

Warner Bros.' 'Evil Dead Burn' underperformed with $13.7 million domestically and $27 million worldwide, a steep drop from the $25 million openings of the two previous franchise entries. The series' last film, 2023's 'Evil Dead Rise', earned $147 million globally, but 'Burn' arrives as just 'another Evil Dead movie' with another installment due in two years Source: Gizmodo. Horror competition from 'Backrooms' and 'Obsession' may have also drained demand Source: Gizmodo.

What's next

Both films hope for sustained runs, but July's box office faces headwinds. Next week brings Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey', followed by 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' at month's end. 'They could power a stronger August than July, which would be very unusual,' Dergarabedian said . Meanwhile, the Michael Jackson biopic 'Michael' crossed $1 billion worldwide, the second film to do so this year .