Dwayne Johnson has not taken the negative critical reception to his live-action “Moana” remake too hard, telling People, “That’s just the way it goes because we’re in this business.”
“Our first two reviews came out. I’ll never forget it … They were amazing. I was like, ‘Wow,’” the actor recalled while speaking with the publication. He went on to add that the reviews quickly went “another way” after that, adding with a laugh, “As sometimes happens.”
“That’s just the way it goes because we’re in this business,” the multi-hyphenate actor and producer said, noting that he and his wife Lauren Hashian have had “a lot of these conversations at home, at the kitchen island late at night when the babies are asleep.”
“The challenge was, ‘Okay, let’s remember, though. What’s going to be beyond this opening weekend?’” the former professional wrestler explained. “‘Let’s remember what’s happening right now and the noise that’s happening.’”
“If you love it, great. If you don’t, no problem,” he ultimately concluded of Disney’s live-action “Moana” adaptation.
Johnson starred in the remake as demigod Maui, reprising the same role he played in the original 2016 animated “Moana.” The live-action film, directed by Thomas Kail, was released in theaters on July 10. It has since underperformed at the worldwide box office, grossing only $263 million to date and barely surpassing its reported $250 million production budget.
On top of its lackluster box office performance, the film received largely negative reviews from professional critics. It currently holds just a 31% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Despite the movie’s disappointing critical and financial performance, Johnson told People what “really mattered” is that “the culture really stood up.” He pointed to the film’s Polynesian-inspired world and said it was “why the movie was made.”
“Because of me and our kids who can now look at the big screen and go, ‘That’s us for the first time on a big screen. That’s us up there,’” Johnson said, adding, “‘How cool is that?’”
