The Rock says people should feel free to sing in cinema

Dwayne Johnson has stated followers ought to be at liberty to sing within the cinema, as he attended the UK premiere of Moana 2.

“Particularly for those who love music, that is the enjoyable half,” the US star, aka The Rock, informed BBC Information on the crimson carpet.

Auli’i Cravalho and Johnson are reprising their roles because the voices of Moana and Maui respectively within the movie, a sequel to 2016’s musical journey.

Not too long ago, there was a debate on social media round whether or not individuals ought to sing alongside in cinemas, sparked by the discharge of Depraved a couple of days in the past.

Some have argued followers ought to be capable of categorical their enjoyment as they like, whereas others say singing ruins different individuals’s experiences.

Johnson, nonetheless, made his views on cinema etiquette clear.

“Sing! You’ve paid your hard-earned cash for a ticket, and you’ve got gone right into a musical, and also you’re into it. Sing,” he stated.

The unique movie adopted an adventurous Polynesian teenage lady who units on a mission throughout the ocean to avoid wasting her individuals.

Moana 2 reunites Moana and Maui three years later for a brand new voyage alongside a crew of “unlikely seafarers”, Disney has stated.

On Sunday night, London’s Leicester Sq. was remodeled right into a Polynesian island, full with palm timber, a seaside, and dancers.

And, whereas the climate was distinctly untropical, scores of followers turned up hoping to catch a glimpse of Cravalho and Johnson.

Cravalho, who was simply 16 when she made her appearing debut as Moana, has since starred in movies together with 2024’s Imply Ladies in addition to showing on stage.

However she stated she was nonetheless “so excited” to be returning to the position of Moana.

“I believe Moana is on the forefront of a dialog the place the phrase princess and the phrase hero are actually interchangeable,” she informed BBC Information.

“She is powerful, she is courageous, she isn’t afraid to seize a demigod by the ear. She appears to be like sturdy as nicely, on the helm of her ship.”

Johnson, a 52-year-old ex-wrestler, voices the a part of gregarious demigod Maui within the animation.

When requested in regards to the similarities between the 2 roles, he stated there’s a clear distinction.

“Maui [is] truly is a demigod,” he stated.

“The distinction is wrestlers assume that they’re demigods, however they’re not. I do know that as a result of I used to be one in every of them,” he stated with fun.

Johnson, who can also be starring as Maui within the upcoming live-action Moana remake, stated that his three daughters “love” seeing him tackle the position.

“As a result of they see themselves in Moana, they really feel they’re represented they usually really feel a way of illustration from the movie too,” he stated.

Cravalho, in the meantime, stated that when she was solid as Moana, she “by no means might have anticipated… simply how impactful this character can be”.

“I knew it might change my life, but it surely appears to have additionally modified many different individuals’s lives as nicely,” she stated.

“So generally after I meet children who’re at that basically particular age, I really feel like Santa, the place they take a look at me and say, ‘You’re Moana!’ They usually imagine it! And it warms my coronary heart.”

Many followers of the movie, who have been youngsters when the unique was launched eight years in the past, will now be youngsters or adults.

Disney will subsequently be hoping the movie appeals each to the nostalgia viewers in addition to a brand new technology of youngsters.

However it faces powerful competitors, coming simply days after Depraved was launched.

The unique Moana made $687m (£540m) on the field workplace worldwide, and scored two Oscar nominations.

It was probably the most streamed film of 2023 within the US, in accordance with Disney.

A sequel was beforehand in improvement as a Disney+ collection, however the firm stunned followers in February when it revealed it might take the movie to cinemas as an alternative.

Songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda – who was nominated for an Oscar for the unique – has not returned to work on the music for the sequel.

As an alternative, the songs have been created by 4 composers, together with songwriting duo Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, who rose to fame in 2022 after creating an unofficial Bridgerton musical on TikTok.

Moana 2 is in UK cinemas on 29 November.