Disney’s ‘Snow White’ Has a Sleepy Box Office Start

Disney’s most recent remake, “Snow White,” made its debut in theaters on Thursday night as one of the most troubled projects in the company’s long history. Nearly everything that could have gone wrong did, leading to a flood of negative publicity before the release.

Did all the chaos affect the box office numbers?

It certainly didn’t help: According to analysts’ projections, “Snow White” is expected to wrap up the weekend with a disappointing $45 million in ticket sales. In the 15 years that Disney has been producing live-action remakes of its animated classics, none of the major releases have opened to less than $58 million, adjusted for inflation. (The lowest was “Dumbo” in 2019.)

“Snow White” also brought in around $44 million internationally over the weekend, as reported by Disney. The film had a production and marketing budget of at least $350 million (similar to “Dumbo” after adjusting for inflation).

Despite the slow start, “Snow White” claimed the top spot at the box office in the United States and Canada over the weekend, according to Comscore. It was shown in 4,200 theaters and gave a much-needed boost to the struggling movie theater industry, marking the second-highest opening of the year, behind Disney’s “Captain America: Brave New World,” which grossed $89 million in its first weekend.

Among other new releases, the crime drama “The Alto Knights” (Warner Bros.), with a production cost of around $50 million, excluding marketing expenses, only managed to collect a dismal $3 million from 2,651 theaters. The film received poor reviews.

“Magazine Dreams” (Briarcliff), a gritty bodybuilding drama starring Jonathan Majors, earned approximately $700,000 from 815 theaters, a result deemed “D.O.A.” by The Hollywood Reporter. Reviews for the film were mostly positive.

“Snow White” received mixed reviews from critics and audiences. Rotten Tomatoes reported that only 43 percent of reviews were positive, but the audience score for the film was 74 percent positive as of Sunday.

Latinos accounted for 30 percent of the audience, which was predominantly female (72 percent), according to Disney.

Based on the beloved 1937 animated classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” Disney’s live-action adaptation faced numerous challenges during production, including the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the 2023 actors’ strike, and extensive reshoots that led to budget overruns. The creative decisions involving Grumpy, Bashful, Doc, and the other dwarfs also drew criticism from the dwarf community.

The film’s lead actress, Rachel Zegler, who is of Latina descent, became a focal point of controversy. Some internet users (mostly men) and certain right-wing media outlets criticized her casting, arguing that a Colombian actress was not suitable to play Snow White, and that Disney’s support for her represented an exaggeration of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in Hollywood.

Some critics of the “go woke, go broke” mentality celebrated their perceived victory online over the weekend.

However, analysts countered this theory, suggesting that “Snow White” faced challenges at the box office not only due to external factors but also because the underlying intellectual property was considered outdated. With most recent animated classics already remade, Disney has had to explore lesser-known properties in its library, such as “Lilo & Stitch,” which is set for a live-action release in May.

Audiences have shown signs of fatigue towards live-action remakes of animated films in general, leading to diminishing returns at the box office. Disney has acknowledged this trend and put on hold plans to remake “Bambi” (1942), “The Sword in the Stone” (1963), “Hercules” (1997), and other titles. (However, a live-action adaptation of “Tangled,” a 2010 animated movie based on the Rapunzel story, is still in development at Disney.)

Universal is banking on the success of its upcoming live-action remake of the 2010 animated hit “How to Train Your Dragon.”

When films underperform at the box office, studios often express hope that positive word of mouth will attract a larger audience in the weeks following the release. In the case of “Snow White,” this optimism may not be unfounded.

“The film’s success will hinge on its ability to draw in audiences due to the ‘babysitter effect’ — parents seeking entertainment for young children — and maintain strong performance for several months, similar to the recent success of ‘Mufasa,’” noted box office analyst David A. Gross in an email on Saturday. “Disney is adept at promoting their films, and this time frame, which includes spring breaks, presents a favorable opportunity.”