{
  "id": 176521,
  "title": "Disney Admits Live-Action Moana and Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu 'Underperformed', But Says The Movies Still Helped Shift Plenty of Merchandise",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/05/disney-admits-live-action-moana-and-star-wars-the-mandalorian-and",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-05T11:57:54.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "IGN",
    "slug": "ign",
    "url": "https://www.ign.com/articles/disney-admits-live-action-moana-and-star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-underperformed-but-says-the-movies-still-helped-shift-plenty-of-merchandise"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Disney has admitted that its live-action adaptations of Moana and Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu underperformed at the box office. However, the company maintains that these movies still helped generate sales for merchandise related to the franchises. Moana has a box office total of $263 million against a $250 million budget, while The Mandalorian and Grogu's theatrical run reached $345 million against a $165 million budget. Despite these underwhelming box office results, Disney emphasizes that merchandise sales have compensated for the films' disappointing ticket sales. The company sees the live-action Moana movie as a strong title for Disney+ and anticipates it will continue to contribute to the franchise's global merchandise business. However, a sequel to Moana appears unlikely, while the future of The Mandalorian and Grogu remains uncertain. Disney also celebrated the $1 billion box office success of Toy Story 5 and noted that The Devil Wears Prada 2 performed well, especially internationally. Additionally, the streaming giant announced a new initiative to incorporate user-generated TikTok content into Disney+, replacing their earlier plans to use AI-generated slop videos.",
  "summary": "Disney's live-action Moana and Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu both underperformed at the box office, but their ticket sales are only part of the story, the company has argued.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}