Feel free to sing in the cinema, says The Rock

Dwayne Johnson has said fans should consciousness escaped to sing successful the cinema, arsenic helium attended the UK premiere of Moana 2.

"Especially if you emotion music, that's the amusive part," the US star, aka The Rock, told BBC News connected the reddish carpet.

Auli'i Cravalho and Johnson are reprising their roles arsenic the voices of Moana and Maui respectively successful the film, a sequel to 2016's philharmonic adventure.

Recently, determination has been a statement connected societal media astir whether radical should sing on successful cinemas, sparked by the merchandise of Wicked a fewer days ago.

Some person argued fans should beryllium capable to explicit their enjoyment arsenic they like, portion others accidental singing ruins different people's experiences.

Johnson, however, made his views connected cinema etiquette clear.

“Sing! You’ve paid your hard earned wealth for a ticket, and you've gone into a musical, and you’re into it. Sing," helium said.

The archetypal movie followed an adventurous Polynesian teenage miss who sets connected a ngo crossed the water to prevention her people.

Moana 2 reunites Moana and Maui 3 years aboriginal for a caller voyage alongside a unit of “unlikely seafarers”, Disney has said.

On Sunday evening, London's Leicester Square was transformed into a Polynesian island, implicit with thenar trees, a beach, and dancers.

And, portion the upwind was distinctly untropical, scores of fans turned up hoping to drawback a glimpse of Cravalho and Johnson.

Cravalho, who was conscionable 16 erstwhile she made her acting debut arsenic Moana, has since starred successful films including 2024's Mean Girls arsenic good arsenic appearing connected stage.

But she said she was inactive "so excited" to beryllium returning to the relation of Moana.

“I deliberation Moana is astatine the forefront of a speech wherever the connection princess and the connection leader are present interchangeable," she told BBC News.

"She is strong, she is brave, she is not acrophobic to drawback a demigod by the ear. She looks beardown arsenic well, astatine the helm of her ship."

Johnson, a 52-year-old ex-wrestler, voices the portion of gregarious demi-God Maui successful the animation.

When asked astir the similarities betwixt the 2 roles, helium said determination is simply a wide difference.

“Maui [is] really is simply a demigod," helium said.

"The quality is wrestlers deliberation that they’re demigods, but they’re not. I cognize that due to the fact that I was 1 of them," helium said with a laugh.

Johnson, who is besides starring arsenic Maui successful the upcoming live-action Moana remake, said that his 3 daughters "love" seeing him instrumentality connected the role.

"Because they spot themselves successful Moana, they’re represented and they consciousness a consciousness of practice from the movie too," helium said.

• Moana to get astonishment cinema sequel this year
• Moana 2 makes a splash with archetypal afloat trailer
• Moana: Another Disney remake but is it excessively soon?

Cravalho, meanwhile, said that erstwhile she was formed arsenic Moana, she "never could person expected... conscionable however impactful this quality would be".

"I knew it would alteration my life, but it seems to person besides changed galore different people’s lives arsenic well," she said.

"So sometimes erstwhile I conscionable kids who are astatine that truly peculiar age, I consciousness similar Santa, wherever they look astatine maine and say, 'You’re Moana!' And they judge it! And it warms my heart.”

Many fans of the film, who were children erstwhile the archetypal was released 8 years ago, volition present beryllium teenagers oregon adults.

Disney volition truthful beryllium hoping the movie appeals some to the nostalgia assemblage arsenic good arsenic a caller procreation of children.

But it faces pugnacious competition, coming conscionable days aft Wicked was released.

The archetypal Moana made $687m (£540m) astatine the container bureau worldwide, and scored 2 Oscar nominations.

It was the astir streamed movie of 2023 successful the US, according to Disney.

A sequel was antecedently successful improvement arsenic a Disney+ series, but the institution amazed fans successful February erstwhile it revealed it would instrumentality the movie to cinemas instead.

Songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda - who was nominated for an Oscar for the archetypal - has not returned to enactment connected the euphony for the sequel.

Instead, the songs person been created by 4 composers, including songwriting duo Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, who roseate to fame successful 2022 aft creating an unofficial Bridgerton philharmonic connected TikTok.

Moana 2 is successful UK cinemas connected 29 November.