The 17-year-old actress will star in the adaptation alongside Dwayne Johnson
 |
| Catherine Laga’aia/Moana |
The live-action remake of Moana: A Sea of Adventure has chosen the actress who will play the protagonist. According to Variety, Moana will be played by Catherine Laga’aia, a 17-year-old Australian actress. “I'm really excited to embrace this character because Moana is one of my favorites,” said Laga'aia. “My grandfather comes from Fa'aala, Palauli, in Savai'i. And my grandmother is from Leulumoega Tuai on the main island of ‘Upolu in Samoa. I’m honored to have the opportunity to celebrate Samoa and all Pacific Island peoples, and to represent girls who look like me.”
Dwayne Johnson will return once again in the role of Maui, the character he voiced in the Disney animation. New cast names have also been announced and include New Zealand actor John Tui, as Moana's father, Chief Tui; Samoan-New Zealand actress Frankie Adams as Moana's mother, Sina; and fellow New Zealander Rena Owen, as Tala's grandfather. Thomas Kail, Tony-winning director of the musical Hamilton, will be responsible for the new version of the story, originally released as an animation in 2016.
Disney has invested heavily in remakes of animations in its catalog, releasing things like The Lion King and Cinderella in cinemas, and streaming projects like Peter Pan and Pinocchio. Moana, however, is the most recent Disney Animation film to receive this treatment. The animation came out in theaters less than seven years ago and was a success at the global box office, grossing US$682 million globally. Until then, the most recent animation to receive the remake treatment was Lilo & Stitch, from 2002. This is one of the next releases within the remakes.
Others include Snow White and, in May this year, The Little Mermaid. Hercules and a Mufasa movie, a prequel to The Lion King, are also in development. Moana Waialiki is a brave young woman, the daughter of the chief of a tribe in Oceania, coming from a long line of navigators. Wanting to discover more about her past and help her family, she decides to go in search of her ancestors, inhabitants of a mythical island that no one knows where it is. Accompanied by the legendary demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), Moana begins her journey on the open sea, where she faces terrifying sea creatures and discovers stories of the underworld.
Johnson, in fact, will return to live-action reprising his role as Maui. The young Auli’i Cravalho, who played Moana in the animation, returns as executive producer, but her role has not yet been confirmed. The animation was directed by the legendary duo Ron Clements and John Musker, responsible for Disney classics such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Hercules. There is no release date for the live-action remake of Moana: A Sea of Adventure for now. The animation, in turn, is available for streaming on Disney+.
Source: Variety
0 Comments