Disney reportedly won’t change course on the upcoming live-action “Moana” film following the trailer’s launch earlier this week.
The trailer was met with a backlash on social media with much of the focus hijacked by the normally bald Dwayne Johnson’s long curly wig, while others were distracted by the film’s fairly flat and desaturated visual appearance.
The Johnson wig in particular has spawned memes and reactions from all over, even Weird Al Yankovic weighing in on it at one point, but the talk got attention – driving the trailer to 132 million views across YouTube and other social platforms in its first 24 hours.
Its numbers topped major titles like the animated “Moana 2,” the live-action “Mufasa,” Johnson’s own “Red One” and box-office juggernauts like “Barbie”. That still didn’t stop criticisms like one which said: “I don’t understand how they managed to make Polynesia, of all places, look so washed out and dull.”
According to Variety, the film isn’t picture-locked as yet, with colour timing and VFX still to be done, but “sources say there are no plans to make a major creative pivot despite the social media pile-on.”
Johnson spent two and a half hours each day in the makeup chair for Maui’s wig and 40-pound prosthetic bodysuit. Filming took place partly in Hawaii, but also action-heavy VFX sequences at Trillith Studios in Atlanta on soundstages. Despite the vocal backlash, overall sentiment is reportedly high following the trailer launch reports the trade.
The live-action “Moana” is set to hit cinemas in July.
