Dwayne Johnson has said fans should feel free to sing in theaters as he attended the UK premiere of Moana 2.

“Especially if you love music, that’s the fun part,” the American star, also known as The Rock, told BBC News on the red carpet.

Auli’i Cravalho and Johnson reprise their roles as the voices of Moana and Maui, respectively, in the film, a sequel to the 2016 musical adventure.

Recently, a debate has arisen on social media about whether people should sing along at the cinema, sparked by the release of Wicked a few days ago.

Some believe fans should be able to express their enjoyment however they want, while others say singing ruins others’ experiences.

However, Johnson made his views on cinema etiquette clear.

“Sing! You paid your hard-earned money for a ticket, you went to a musical, and you’re into it. Sing,” he said.

The original film followed an adventurous Polynesian teenage girl who goes on a mission across the ocean to save her people.

Moana 2 reunites Moana and Maui three years later for another journey along with a crew of “unlikely seafarers,” according to Disney.

On Sunday evening, London’s Leicester Square was transformed into a Polynesian island, complete with palm trees, a beach and dancers.

And although the weather was decidedly untropical, dozens of fans showed up hoping to catch a glimpse of Cravalho and Johnson.

Cravalho, who was just 16 when she made her acting debut as Moana, has since starred in films like 2024’s Mean Girls and also appeared on stage.

But she said she was still “so excited” to return to the role of Moana.

“I think Moana is at the forefront of a conversation where the word princess and the word hero are now interchangeable,” she told BBC News.

“She’s strong, she’s brave, she’s not afraid to grab a demigod by the ear. She looks strong, too, at the helm of her ship.”

Johnson, a 52-year-old former wrestler, plays the role of the sociable demigod Maui in the animation.

When asked about the similarities between the two roles, he said there is a clear difference.

“Maui (is) basically a demigod,” he said.

“The difference is wrestlers think they’re demigods, but they’re not. I know that because I was one of them,” he said, laughing.

Johnson, who also stars as Maui in the upcoming live-action Moana remake, said his three daughters would “love” him to take on the role.

“Because they see themselves in Moana, they feel they are represented and they also feel a sense of representation from the film,” he said.

Cravalho, meanwhile, said that when she was cast as Moana, she “could never have expected… how impactful this character would be”.

“I knew it would change my life, but it seems to have changed a lot of other people’s lives too,” she said.

“So when I meet kids who are at that very special age, sometimes I feel like Santa Claus, where they look at me and say, ‘You’re Moana!’ And they believe it! And it warms my heart.”

Many fans of the film who were children when the original came out eight years ago will now be teenagers or adults.

Disney therefore hopes that the film will appeal to both the nostalgic audience and a new generation of children.

But it faces stiff competition just days after Wicked was released.

The original Moana earned $687 million (£540 million) worldwide at the box office and scored two Oscar nominations.

According to Disney, it was the most streamed movie of 2023 in the US.

A sequel was previously in development as a Disney+ series, but the company surprised fans in February when it revealed it would be bringing the film to theaters instead.

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

Instead, the songs were created by four composers, including songwriting duo Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, who rose to fame in 2022 after creating an unofficial Bridgerton musical on TikTok.

Moana 2 hits UK cinemas on November 29.