Disney’s Snow White suffers box office disaster due to ‘woke’ backlash

The live-action remake of Disney’s Snow White appears to be underperforming based on initial box office figures, making it one of the company’s least successful films in recent times.

The movie has faced criticism partly due to comments made by its lead actress Rachel Zegler and the decision to exclude the beloved song ‘Someday My Prince Will Come.’

The first results from theaters have been revealed, and they’re not great.

The movie made just $3.5 million in Thursday previews and is projected to earn a disappointing $45 to $55 million during its opening weekend. 

That places the film below Disney’s Little Mermaid remake, which premiered in 2023 and made $95 million during opening. 

Disney’s 2019 Dumbo remake made $2.6 million in previews and profited a total of $45 million on opening weekend. 

However, Dumbo only required $170 million to make, while Snow White cost over $250 million, excluding marketing costs. 

Despite the underperforming figures, Snow White did rank higher than Disney’s Cinderella remake, which only grossed $2.3 million in previews. 

The film has also failed to impress critics, clocking in at only 44 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. 

A review by Daily Mail’s Brian Viner gave the film a pitiful two stars, calling it ‘a painfully muddle-headed affair.’

Snow White hit theaters on Friday and underperformed at the box office in comparison to other live-action remakes 

Snow White earned $3.5 million in previews on Thursday and is estimated to achieve a total of $45 to $55 million during its opening weekend, which is notably less than what Disney’s Little Mermaid remake garnered. Rachel Zegler stars as Snow White in this adaptation.

Gal Gadot portrays the Evil Queen in the new remake, but her role has been overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the film

‘Disney’s contorted attempts not to offend anyone have somehow managed to offend everyone,’ Viner wrote. 

Viner also noted that the bizarre decision to make the dwarves computer-generated imagery instead of employing actors denied little people opportunities. 

In an effort to be more ‘woke,’ Disney also changed the dwarves to be called ‘magical creatures’ instead. 

A review by The Guardian slammed the film, calling it a ‘pointless new live-action musical’ and a ‘merch enabling money machine.’

The review also torched the film’s costume design and said leads Zegler and Gal Gadot ‘give the dullest performances of their lives.’

‘It’s garishly ugly and padded out with new tunes from Pasek and Paul that are as smooth and unremarkable as river rocks, all of which may or may not matter to its target audience, who could just be basing their decision about whether to see the movie on how unacceptably woke social media has informed them it is,’ a review from Vulture read. 

‘The timeless classic, a groundbreaking achievement for animation, has been turned into another pointless and awkward live-action automaton that vanishes from your mind the second it’s over,’ a critic from the New York Post wrote. 

However, some reviewers found the controversy-ridden film entertaining with USA Today praising the remake and IndieWire calling Snow White, ‘a spirited and sweet spin on classic material.’

The highly-anticipated release of Snow White comes after years of a media firestorm surrounding the film. 

Critics of the remake first jumped on Disney for the decision to cast Zegler in the role due to her Colombian ancestry. 

In the original fairytale, the princess is given her name because her skin is ‘as white as snow.’ 

Zegler previously said that the origin story has changed, and in Disney’s new version the princess earns the name due to a snowstorm she survived as a child. 

Snow White underperformed in initial box office numbers, with The Little Mermaid outpacing it and Dumbo earning a similar amount 

The remake only scored 44 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and was slammed by critics for the New York Post, the Guardian, and Vulture 

The lead came under fire for criticizing the 1937 animation, calling it ‘dated’ during a red carpet interview with Extra TV in 2022. 

‘There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird. So we didn’t do that this time,’ she said. 

‘We have a different approach to what I’m sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because we cast a guy in the movie.’

Zegler eventually walked back her comments and assured fans that the love story would be ‘integral’ to the remake’s plot. 

Disney fans then expressed discontent at Zegler when she said she was ‘scared’ of the original version as a child and only watched it one time. 

Zegler wasn’t the only point of criticism during the making of the film, as the remake’s Evil Queen Gal Gadot became a subject of backlash for her stance on the Gaza war. 

Gadot, an Israeli native who also served in the Israel Defense Force, has been vocal about her support for the country. 

Meanwhile, Zegler on the other hand, expressed her support for freeing Palestine from Israel’s occupation. 

Disney’s attempts to make the remake friendlier to ‘woke’ audiences have fallen flat at times, with actor Peter Dinklage calling out the company’s hypocrisy in 2022. 

‘It makes no sense to me,’ he told Mark Maron on the WTF podcast. 

‘You’re progressive in one way and you’re still making that f***ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f*** are you doing, man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox? I guess I’m not loud enough.’ 

Zegler came under fire for calling the original animation ‘dated’ and accusing the prince of ‘stalking’ Snow White in the 1937 film 

The film also pivoted when it came to the seven dwarfs, renaming them as ‘magical creatures’ in response to criticism 

In response to the backlash, Disney pivoted the story again, renaming the seven dwarfs as ‘magical creatures.’ 

The remake has even drawn criticism from the son of the supervising director of the original cartoon. 

David Hale Hand, the son of the late David Hand slammed the remake, ‘The original was the way it should be. From what I’ve read, [the new film] bears no reflection to the original story. It’s so far off base that it’s ridiculous.’

His wife Sandra echoed a similar sentiment, telling Page Six, ‘They’ve taken it and moved into the politics of what is woke. They’re taking a beautiful and beautifully drawn story and destroying what was Snow White.’ 

In response to the extent of backlash around the film, Disney decided to scale back the premieres.

The film premiered in Europe at a remote castle in Segovia, Spain, instead of a traditional sprawling red carpet event. 

A source told Page Six that Zegler was ‘out of control’ and Disney didn’t know how to handle her. Gadot was also noticeably absent from the event and the press weren’t invited to attend.