Disney's Snow White faces disastrous box office failure
- The live-action remake of Snow White was released by Disney in March 2023 and faced immediate backlash due to various controversies.
- As the box office performance dwindled, the film saw significant losses, earning not even half of its $410 million budget.
- Disney's reputation has come into question due to the lackluster performance and lessons that should be learned moving forward.
In March 2023, The Walt Disney Company released its live-action remake of the animated classic Snow White, directing attention from audiences across the globe. The film, featuring Rachel Zegler as the titular character and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, opened with a disappointing $42 million during its first weekend, far below expectations. Critics and audiences quickly responded to the movie's negative reception, stemming from a myriad of controversies surrounding its production. Notably, Zegler made headlines due to her comments about the original animated film and her political posts on social media, which fueled public discourse against the film even before its release. As it entered its second weekend, Snow White experienced a significant 66% drop in box office revenue, which led to further scrutiny regarding its performance. Tracking estimates initially suggested a potential international gross of $225 million, but these forecasts proved overly optimistic. During the Easter weekend, the movie managed to collect a meager $1.2 million, resulting in a dismal per-theater average of just $743. This paltry performance indicated theaters were likely selling an average of only 3-4 tickets a day, questioning the film's overall appeal. Disney's decisions during marketing and distribution also came under fire. Prior to its release in over 4,200 theaters, the film faced backlash for its portrayal of characters, particularly regarding the decision to use CGI dwarfs following actor Peter Dinklage's concerns about representation. This decision, combined with Zegler's politically charged statements, contributed to a lack of interest from potential moviegoers, detracting from the film's overall reception. By the end of its fifth weekend in theaters, Snow White had dropped out of the domestic box office's top 10, earning an estimated total of $431,000 from only 610 North American venues. Consequently, the film's total domestic tally reached approximately $85.7 million, coupled with international ticket sales of $109.4 million leading to an estimated global box office of $195.1 million. With costs for production and marketing totaling around $410 million, this translated to a staggering loss of at least $215 million for Disney, raising questions about future strategies and priorities for the studio in terms of creativity and content direction.