• Moana had a disappointing weekend at the box office, only making $95 million from its huge $250 million budget
• The live action remake currently sits at 33% on Rotten Tomatoes
• Fans have criticized Moana for being an exact replica of the beloved animated movie

Moana set sail for theaters recently, but its opening weekend was a poor performance for one of July's biggest new movies.

The original Moana movie was a huge success for Disney, bringing in $687.2 million at the global box office. But based on the opening weekend, it doesn't feel like the 2026 live action remake will be following in its footsteps.

At the time of writing, the new Moana has only made $95 million on its huge $250 million budget, making it one of Disney's poorest performing movies.

It has also received a disappointing Rotten Tomatoes score of 33%, with its critics consensus saying: "The sea calls to no one in this underwhelming new version of Moana, an endeavor that solidifies its animated predecessor as the superior adventure."

Moana has been branded 'lifeless' by viewers

Many fans of the original Moana movie have expressed their disappointment, describing the new live action version as being flat and a "carbon copy" of the original, per this scathing review by Associated Press.

Fans on X have also had a lot to say, with some wonder what the point in making a live action movie for Moana was. There's been plenty of backlash, making it a disappointing entry into Disney's library.

Another X user commented on how their main issue was the lack of quality, noting that nothing about the Moana live action was better than the original. They also cited The Lion King and Aladdin as having "new elements that justified their existence", but claimed that Moana did not have this.

Finally, another user pointed out that they'd rather watch the Snow White remake over Moana. Snow White also underperformed at the box office, but has a slightly higher Rotten Tomatoes score of 39%.

If you want to see for yourself, Moana is now playing in theaters globally. But judging by initial reports, you might want to head to Disney+ to check out the original, and it's admittedly very good sequel, Moana 2.

Evil Dead Burn is the sixth installment in the horror franchise, and unfortunately, I found the new movie to be the weakest one of the bunch. Considering the 2013 reboot wasn't great, I think that speaks to how much I'm disappointed in the most recent entry.

On the surface, Evil Dead Burn looks promising. It was directed by Sébastien Vaniček, who is most well known for his movie Infested. I liked that one a lot (mostly because spiders terrify me), and so I was excited for his take on the iconic Evil Dead series.

Vaniček's Evil Dead Burn follows a woman named Alice (Souheila Yacoub) who is grieving over the loss of her husband, William (George Pullar), as she seeks solace with her in-laws. One member of her late husband's family is played by Hunter Doohan, who stars in Netflix's Wednesday, and I must admit it was cool getting to see him in a horror movie.

One by one, the family transforms into Deadites, the malevolent, parasitic demonic spirits we've come to fear throughout the Evil Dead franchise. But it goes in a direction I really wasn't expecting.

I do want to preface my mostly negative review by pointing out that there are some good things about this movie. Horror fans with a thirst for gory set pieces will no doubt have fun, as there are indeed some great moments. Some stand-out scenes involve a dishwasher and a car door, and just thinking about them makes me cringe uncomfortably.

Unfortunately, there's not much else to it beyond some standout gory moments that will stick with you. It's not a patch on the Bruce Campbell-led movies we know and love, and pales in comparison to its predecessor, Evil Dead Rise.

Evil Dead Burn centers around a family terrorized by Deadites, but there's a lot of confusion here surrounding how people become possessed. Sometimes you need a transfer of bodily fluids, and sometimes possession takes longer than others. The inconsistency throughout the movies might frustrate fans, as sometimes, a simpler answer is best.

When the family members are possessed, horrible things happen. It is a very unforgiving movie because the Deadites are particularly cruel here, often to an extreme degree. I should warn people now that yes, there is violence towards animals if that bothers you, and the movie feels nastier than its predecessors as a result.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, as we expect to watch a horror movie to feel uncomfortable and scared. But Evil Dead Burn really struggles to balance these shocking, brutal moments with an actual story, to the point where it feels like you're just watching a montage of gory scenes.

There's also a frustrating overreliance on jump scares here, which previous Evil Dead movies steered away from. There's nothing wrong with a good scare, and horror fans love them, but when you have excessive ones you saw coming a mile away, it becomes tedious.

Sam Raimi wove a really cool horror story when he first created The Evil Dead, but this sequel adds very little to the lore. It's basically a long movie where family members brutally attack and maim each other, and by the credits, I was left with more questions than answers.

Even the post-credits scene isn't really worth waiting for, and since there was a three-year gap between Evil Dead Rise and Evil Dead Burn, it's a shame that's all we got.

Ultimately, Evil Dead Burn is another divisive horror movie that will work for some and not others. It really depends on what you want from a horror movie, and if you're content with some over-the-top gore and repeated easy-to-spot scares, then you'll definitely have fun.

If you want more lore with your gore, then you might want to revisit the previous movies instead. Evil Dead Burn doesn't add much to a long-running franchise, and I found it to be a disappointment.