The Walt Disney Co’s live-action, controversy-bedeviled “Snow White” opened in theaters with a sleepy $43 million in ticket gross sales, based on studio estimates Sunday.
With a funds above $250 million, “Snow White” had set out with increased ambitions, significantly because it returns Disney to its very origins. The 1937 authentic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was the corporate’s first animated characteristic, and paid for its Burbank studio lot.
But this “Snow White” struggled to seek out something like a fairy story ending. The runup to launch was tormented by controversies over the movie’s dealing with of the dwarfs, who’re rendered in CGI, and backlashes over feedback by its star, Rachel Zegler. The PR complications prompted Disney to tug again on its premiere.
Also working in opposition to the movie, directed by Marc Webb: poor critiques. Critics had been largely not impressed with Disney’s newest live-action remake, with critiques coming in simply 43% “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes.
There’s been a large variance between the box-office efficiency of different “live-action” Disney remakes, however “Snow White” may mark a brand new nadir. Jon Favreau’s photorealistic “The Lion King” (2019) didn’t have nice critiques, both, however grossed greater than $1.6 billion worldwide. “Snow White” opened worse than “Dumbo” (a $46 million opening in 2019) and nicely shy of “Cinderella” territory ($67.9 million in 2015).
Overseas, “Snow White” added $44.3 million for a worldwide launch of $87.3 million. But going into the weekend, “Snow White” had been eyeing a worldwide complete nearer to $100 million – and some weeks again, expectations had been considerably increased.
The consequence will certainly add to questions over Disney’s long-term technique of mining its vault for live-action remakes. In the pipeline are upcoming new variations of “Moana” and “Tangled.” A live-action “Lilo & Stitch” launches in May.
Efforts to modernize “Snow White,” though, quickly ran afoul. In 2022, actor Peter Dinklage criticized the remake plans as “backward.” Disney finally opted to drop “and the Seven Dwarfs” from the unique’s title, and animate the dwarfs. Some right-wing commentators focused “Snow White” and Zegler’s casting. Delays and reshoots additionally ran up prices.
Disney, although, has just lately steered a handful of movies from modest begins to enviable closing hauls. The Barry Jenkins-directed “Mufasa: The Lion King” opened with $35.4 million domestically, however finally surpassed $717 million worldwide. “Snow White” will face little direct competitors within the coming weeks. Audiences gave it a “B+” CinemaScore.
Warner Bros.’ “Alto Knights,” a interval gangster movie starring Robert De Niro in each lead roles, was a complete misfire. The Barry Levinson-directed movie, which value about $45 million to make, opened with simply $3.2 million from 2,651 theaters. The flop of “Alto Knights” adopted one other misfire for Warner Bros. with Bong Joon Ho’s big-budget sci-fi “Mickey 17.” In three weeks, it’s tallied $40.2 million domestically in opposition to a $118 million funds.
“Magazine Dreams,” starring Jonathan Majors as a disturbed aspiring bodybuilder, opened with $700,000 for Briarcliff Entertainment in 815 places. The movie was dropped by Searchlight Pictures after Majors was convicted of two misdemeanor counts of assault and harassment in opposition to Grace Jabbari, his ex-girlfriend. Majors averted jail time however was given a yr of probation.
The disappointment-filled weekend added to a tough 2025 to this point for Hollywood. The field workplace is down 6.9% from final yr, based on knowledge agency Comscore, and 38.6% from 2019.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This materials might not be printed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out permission.