Mark Mancina (Twister, Tarzan, Moana, Speed, Bad Boys, Brother Bear, August Rush, Cry Macho, The Sea Beast) has confirmed in a recent interview with Film Music Live that he will be involved in the upcoming live-action adaptation of Disney’s animated hit feature Moana. The film is directed by Thomas Kail (Fosse/Verdon) and stars Catherine Laga‘ai in the title role, Dwayne Johnson who reprises his role of Maui, John Tui as Moana’s father, Chief Tui, Frankie Adams as her mother, Sina, as well as Rena Owen as Gramma Tala. Jared Bush (Encanto, Zootopia) and Dana Ledoux Miller (Thai Cave Rescue) wrote the screenplay. Lin-Manuel Miranda (whose songs from the 2016 movie are expected to be featured in the new movie) is producing the project with Dany Garcia & Hiram Garcia (Jumanji: The Next Level, Jungle Cruise) for Seven Bucks Productions and Beau Flynn for (San Andreas, Black Adam) FlynnPictureCo. Mancina has previously scored both animated Moana movies and was also involved in writing songs for both installments. The live-action Moana film is set to be released in theaters nationwide on July 10, 2026 by Walt Disney Pictures.
In addition to Moana 2, Mancina’s recent projects also include Clint Eastwood’s Juror No. 2, which is currently playing in select theaters and will make its streaming debut on December on Max. He also produced several songs for Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King, which will be released in theaters on December 20.
