Dwayne Johnson melts hearts with proud girl-dad moment at the Moana premiere
Dwayne Johnson turned the Moana premiere into a heartfelt family affair, keeping his three daughters by his side all night.
Big Disney premieres are usually all spectacle and step-and-repeat. This one had that... and then Dwayne Johnson went full proud dad in the middle of it.
At the Hollywood Bowl, The Rock got soft
The live-action Moana world premiere took over the Hollywood Bowl, under the stars, with roughly 5,000 people in the crowd. Between the big musical numbers and all the shiny premiere stuff, Johnson carved out a quiet beat to talk about what actually hit him: seeing his kids and Catherine Laga'aia up there.
"Just as a proud girl-dad of three, is how beautiful it was to see my not only my daughters up there, who are 10 and 8, but also to see Catherine up there. I was so proud of her, and it was so cool to see this Hollywood Bowl, 5,000 people under the stars, it was awesome."
He was there with Jasmine (10) and Tiana (8), his daughters with wife Lauren Hashian. His oldest, Simone Garcia Johnson, is 24 and has done her own thing in WWE as Ava Raine. The focus stayed squarely on the next generation, especially newcomer Catherine Laga'aia taking on Moana in front of that massive audience for the first time.
And then he casually confirmed Moana 3
While promoting the live-action film in Rio de Janeiro, Johnson said a third animated Moana is officially in development at Disney. The reveal came during a press conference and was captured in a video posted by Almanaque Disney on X that has since been deleted. He named Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller as the writers. The live-action movie lands first; there are no plot details, release date, or casting specifics yet for the threequel.
Where the franchise stands right now
- The 2016 animated original made about $687 million worldwide and remains one of Disney+'s most-watched titles.
- Moana 2 sailed past $1 billion globally, even though it started life as a planned series before pivoting to a feature.
- Johnson and Auli'i Cravalho are expected to return as Maui and Moana for the third animated film.
- On July 1, a first-look at Te Fiti from the live-action remake made the rounds online.
So yes, the premiere had all the usual big-night energy, but the lasting image was The Rock quietly beaming over his daughters and cheering on Catherine. Not the headline he probably planned on making, but easily the one that mattered most.