Movies

Disney’s ‘Snow White’ opens with a lackluster $43 million amid controversies, poor reviews

BBG News

As a cinephile, I must admit, this past weekend’s box office performance of Disney’s latest live-action adaptation of “Snow White” left me more underwhelmed than exhilarated.

In the U.S. and Canada, the movie featuring Rachel Zegler as the leading princess and Gal Gadot as the wicked queen, debuted with relatively modest earnings of $43 million at box offices, securing the top spot domestically. However, industry analysts and ticket sales projections had anticipated “Snow White” to gross between $45 million and $55 million during its opening weekend before its release.

To recoup its costs and truly be considered a success, this film needs to generate substantial revenue in the upcoming weeks. Initially, it’s reported that the production cost approximately $250 million, not including marketing expenses. So far, it has managed to earn $44 million overseas, bringing its global opening total to $87 million.

Compared to the opening number of Tim Burton’s 2019 adaptation of “Dumbo,” the start of “Snow White” earned fewer viewers. However, despite earning $353 million globally, Burton’s “Dumbo” was still considered a commercial letdown.

The initial quarter at the box office has been relatively sluggish. As of now, earnings have declined when compared to those from last year, according to experts. It’s anticipated that the total first-quarter earnings will be lower than the same period last year, which were already below the typical pre-pandemic levels.

Initially, the early stages of 2024 were rather sluggish, but as we moved into the first quarter’s final weeks, major box office successes such as “Dune: Part Two” and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” made their debut. Each film raked in at least $80 million during its opening weekend.

Daniel Loria, senior vice president at the Boxoffice Co., commented, “It’s misleading to believe that the significance of ‘Snow White’ is limited to Disney alone. The industry as a whole was anticipating a more successful first quarter. To end this month with a strong performance is crucial.

Hollywood Inc.

Disney’s upcoming live-action ‘Snow White’ has had a challenging journey leading up to its release next week, as it has been met with controversy from the outside world at each stage of its development.

“Snow White” faced a tough road to its opening weekend.

The movie faced backlash due to racial criticism following the casting of Zegler, who has Colombian and Polish heritage, as the main character. Later, fans who are particularly devoted criticized her for suggesting that the upcoming film would modernize elements from the 1937 animated movie, specifically focusing on Snow White’s romantic relationship with Prince Charming.

The movie has encountered scrutiny regarding its portrayal of individuals with dwarfism and the opinions held by its main actors concerning the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. Interestingly, Zegler is a vocal supporter of Palestinians, while Gadot publicly supports Israel, having been born there.

It’s not clear to what extent the outside debate about the movie influenced its box office earnings during its opening weekend.

However, Disney’s tactic of converting its animated movie collection into live-action adaptations continues unabated. In fact, the media and amusement giant is set to debut a live-action rendition of “Lilo & Stitch” this coming May.

In essence, the re-makes serve as a strategic approach akin to risk management – they revisit well-known narratives but also provide Disney with an opportunity to revise or rectify certain issues from the original animated films. For instance, they can empower princess characters more and increase diversity within their casts.

By refreshing their classic animated movies, Disney can steer focus back towards these characters. This opens up an opportunity for them to market fresh merchandise tied to the live-action adaptations, thereby generating excitement and reacquainting audiences with the characters.

In other words, this applies to various sectors within Disney’s extensive domain, encompassing theme parks, streaming platforms, and stage productions on Broadway, according to Peter Kunze, a communication professor at Tulane University and author of “Staging a Comeback: Broadway, Hollywood, and the Disney Renaissance.

He stated that making these live-action remakes acts somewhat like a life-reviving shock for the franchise. The income from theatrical distribution isn’t the only thing reliant on this movie, it also supports various other facets within the business.

As a cinephile, I must admit that the influx of live-action remakes can sometimes leave me yearning for more original tales. However, there’s no denying their financial success – take for instance, “Beauty and the Beast” (2017) which raked in over a billion dollars worldwide, or “Alice in Wonderland” from 2010, followed by “The Lion King” (2019) and “Aladdin” (2019), all of which also surpassed the billion-dollar mark.

Although the initial weekend’s box office performance might be sluggish for these films, they have the potential to sustain interest with audiences for an extended period. For example, the release of “Snow White” coincides with many children being on spring break, making it a convenient option for parents seeking activities for their kids during this period.

At present, there’s not much rivalry in the genre of family movies, as Warner Bros. Pictures’ “A Minecraft Movie” is yet to release in two weeks. Previously, StudioCanal’s “Paddington in Peru,” distributed by Sony in the U.S., and Universal Pictures’ “Dog Man” have already hit the screens.

In my humble opinion as a movie enthusiast, last year’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” had a modest start with a domestic box office take of approximately $35 million when it debuted in December. However, it went on to amass an impressive global total of over $717 million. It seems that family films sometimes need time to generate excitement, and their audience often doesn’t consist of die-hard fans eager to rush to the cinemas upon release, as per Loria’s observations.

He mentioned that this upcoming weekend will provide just a piece of the overall picture for ‘Snow White.’ The genuine assessment of a film like this, he explained, doesn’t happen until weeks three, four, and five.

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2025-03-23 19:01

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