Disney surprised everyone yesterday with the announcement of a film that nobody had on their radar: the fantasy adventure Vaiana will be followed up with part 2 – later this year!
Usually, the blockbusters of the big studios are already known at the beginning of every film year. For example, we’ve known for months how many Marvel and DC films will be hitting the big screen in 2024. Yesterday evening, however, Disney pulled a new fantasy adventure out of its hat as a complete surprise.
We’re talking about Vaiana 2, the sequel to the 2016 animated film Vaiana, in which Dwayne Johnson lends his voice to the demigod Maui and meets the title character and heroine, voiced by Auli’i Cravalho. Now the two return to the Polynesian island of Motonui for a new adventure.
Here you can watch the teaser video for Vaiana 2:
First teaser for Vaiana 2: Dwayne Johnson returns to the movies this year as demigod Maui
According to Variety, the sequel begins with Vaiana receiving a mysterious call from her friends and embarking on a dangerous journey into the vastness of Oceania. She is accompanied by Maui and a group of new seafaring characters.
We don’t find out too much about the new story in the 17-second video. But the images look stunning once again. The first part already impressed with fantastic animations that really made us want to plunge into the adventure with the characters. The first scene from the sequel is also impressive.
Vaiana and co. are on a raft on a starry night while a bluish glowing whale passes them. It looks like the perfect mix of Avatar: The Way of Water and Life of Pi: Shipwreck with Tiger. The new film was directed by David Derrick Jr. who was the storyboard artist for the predecessor
(Vaiana 2)
Unfortunately, we have to do without one important person. Composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, who gave us the Vaiana anthem How Far I’ll Go and the Dwayne Johnson banger You’re Welcome, will not be writing any new songs for the sequel. As a replacement, a four-person music team has been assembled, consisting of Abigail Barlow, Emily Bear, Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina.
One particularly exciting detail: Vaiana 2 did not come completely out of nowhere. Originally, the story was to be told in the form of a series on Disney+ before the decision was made to bring it to the cinema as a film. This change – less streaming, more cinema – has been seen several times in the past. Disney itself has prioritized two major cinema projects over series.
On the one hand, there is the Marvel sequel Armor Wars starring Don Cheadle, which was first announced as a series and has now been turned into a film. Star Wars also had a surprise at the beginning of the year: The Mandalorian & Grogu are jumping onto the big screen. Whether the series on which it is based will be continued, however, is unclear. For the time being, cinema has priority
