‘Moana 2’ Was Supposed to Be a Disney+ Series. Why It’s Hitting Movie Theaters Instead

variety.com:

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter In 2020, during the peak of the entertainment industry’s love affair with streaming, a follow-up to Disney‘s animated hit “Moana” was destined to become a television series for Disney+.

But like the movie’s shapeshifting demigod Maui, who traverses the seven seas with the eponymous Polynesian warrior, the project has transformed into something entirely new.

In a surprise move, the follow-up to “Moana” has been retooled into a feature film, which is set to debut in theaters on Nov.

27. It’s a boon for cinemas after last summer’s strikes forced studios to postpone plenty of blockbusters to 2025 and beyond.It also signals Disney’s renewed excitement for the big screen at a time when Hollywood has started to prefer the economics of selling movie tickets to a business model that was all about trying to steal Netflix’s thunder. “Moana 2” joins the studio’s upcoming “Alien” spinoff “Romulus” and 2022’s horror film “Barbarian,” as well as Paramount’s “Mean Girls” movie musical and psychological thriller “Smile,” as projects that were commissioned for streaming but ultimately scored exclusive theatrical releases. “Disney’s strategy is no longer about spending a lot on streaming content in hopes of attracting [Disney+] subscribers,” says Eric Handler, a senior research analyst at Roth MKM. “They’re asking, ‘How do we maximize revenue and profitability?'” After much trial and error (and plenty of time during the pandemic to experiment), traditional studios — and some streamers — have mainly deduced the best financial value is found in releasing movies exclusively in theaters.