Dwayne Johnson Turns The Smashing Machine Box Office Bust Into A Streaming Triumph
After The Smashing Machine stumbled in theaters, Dwayne Johnson roared back on streaming as his voice turn as Maui helped Moana 2 claim Disney+’s most-watched movie of 2025.
Dwayne Johnson had a rough year at the theater, but he quietly notched a huge streaming win. And yeah, it came from a place where you do not actually see him: behind a mic, swinging a magical fishhook.
The streaming win: Moana 2 owned Disney+ in 2025
Johnson returned as Maui in Moana 2, and the sequel reportedly topped Disney+ this year. A stat that made the rounds on Dec 17 (via the Cosmic Marvel account) called it the platform's most-watched film of 2025, with more than 80 million rewatches. Just to be clear: that is a view count, not dollars.
"Most-watched film on Disney+ in 2025."
Rewatched more than 80M times.
So even if you never saw his face, the Rock still had the year's biggest Disney+ movie on his resume.
But the movie he really pushed? That one stumbled
The passion project was Benny Safdie's A24 drama The Smashing Machine, where Johnson transforms into MMA legend Mark Kerr. The transformation got raves from fans, but the box office did not follow. The marketing promised one thing and the movie delivered another, which is a nice way of saying people were confused about what they were buying a ticket to.
- Title: The Smashing Machine
- Director: Benny Safdie
- Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader
- Release date: October 3, 2025
- Opening weekend: $5.8 million
- Domestic total: $11 million
- Worldwide box office: $21.1 million
- IMDb rating: 6.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 71%
- Studio: A24
- Where to watch now: Apple TV
Those numbers are a gut punch for a movie that asked a global action star to disappear into a bruised, complicated real person. It is also the kind of outcome that happens when the positioning and the actual film do not line up.
Can live-action Moana turn his year around?
Short answer: it should help. Two reasons:
First, Johnson is back as Maui, but this time in the flesh. His animated Maui was already a crowd-pleaser; giving audiences the full eyebrow-raise-and-"CHEEE-HAW" experience in a real-world setting is an easy sell. Throw in the shape-shifting gags (half-shark Maui incoming) and you have event-movie moments baked in.
Second, family movies with nostalgia heat are still printing money. The original Moana landed in 2016, so you have a whole cohort of kids and parents ready to revisit it together. Case in point: Disney's live-action Lilo & Stitch surprised the industry in 2025 with a $1.038 billion haul. If that can happen, a live-action Moana has a very clear runway.
For the record: Catherine Laga'aia is playing Moana in the new version, and the movie hits theaters July 10, 2026 in the U.S.
Where are you on this? Hyped to see Maui in live-action or still thinking about The Smashing Machine? Drop your take below.