Rachel Zegler’s Snow White Remake Hits Major Box Office Milestone Despite The Movie’s Controversy

Rachel Zegler’s Snow White remake hits a major box office milestone despite the movie’s controversy. Disney’s latest live-action reimagining is of 1937’s animated Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, following the eponymous pure-hearted princess (played by Zegler) who joins forces with the seven dwarfs to free her kingdom from her cruel stepmother, the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot). The Snow White live-action remake cast is fairly extensive, as it includes Andrew Burnap (Jonathan), Ansu Kabia (The Huntsman), Patrick Page (The Magic Mirror), Hadley Fraser (The Good King), Lorena Andrea (The Good Queen), Dujonna Gift (Maple), Martin Klebba (Grumpy), and more.

Now, a week after its theatrical release, Disney’s latest live-action remake has hit a major box office milestone, even after suffering a 66% drop in its second weekend. According to The Numbers, Snow White has passed $50 million at the domestic box office. Currently, its total cume breaks down to $50.8 million domestically and $43.1 million internationally for a grand total of $93.9 million globally. Its next milestone should come when it reaches the $100 million worldwide total, which will likely come within the next week, as it is only $6.1 million away.

What Snow White’s Box Office Milestone Means For The Movie

It’s Still Shaping Up To Be A Box Office Bomb

Long before its release on March 21, Disney’s live-action Snow White remake sparked multiple controversies, including debates over its color-blind casting, alterations to the story, Zegler’s outspoken criticism of the original film, the differing political views of Zegler and Gadot, and the reimagining of the Seven Dwarfs. The Snow White remake made $42.2 million in its opening weekend, slightly below projections, but still topped the box office due to little competition. The underwhelming debut was attributed to mixed audience reactions, lukewarm reviews, deviations from the original story, and the controversies surrounding Zegler and Gadot.

Snow White needs to make $500 million to reach its “box office safety net.”

However, other insiders have suggested that these controversies had minimal impact on the film’s financial performance, instead attributing its failure primarily to poor reception from both critics and audiences. Nevertheless, it’s estimated that Snow White needs to make $500 million to reach its “box office safety net.” This is due to its massive estimated production budget of $240–270 million, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made, right in the range of another box-office disappointment, Solo: A Star Wars Story. Though Snow White‘s box office is nearing $100 million, it’s still shaping up to be a box office bomb.

How Does Snow White Compare To Other Live-Action Remakes

It Certainly Is Not The Lion King

The Disney live-action remake trend has certainly had various successes and failures. Some movies have completely bombed, including 2020’s Mulan, which was severely hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic and earned just $70 million against its $200 million budget. Others, including Aladdin (2019), The Lion King (2019), and Beauty and the Beast (2017), which each earned over $1 billion at the box office. Disney has been taking risks with these movies, but Snow White has not been the success that it hoped for, as its first two weeks have been extremely disappointing. Check out how it compares to the other remakes:

Title	Budget	Worldwide Box Office Total
The Jungle Book (2016)	$175 million	$967 million
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)	$170 million	$300 million
Beauty and the Beast (2017)	$160 million	$1.3 billion
Christopher Robin (2018)	$70 million	$198 million
Dumbo (2019)	$170 million	$353 million
The Lion King (2019)	$250 million	$1.67 billion
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)	$186 million	$492 million
Aladdin (2019)	$183 million	$1.05 billion
Mulan (2020)	$200 million	$70 million
Cruella (2021)	$100 million	$234 million
The Little Mermaid (2023)	$240 million	$570 million
Mufasa: The Lion King (2024)	$200 million	$720 million
Snow White (2025)	$240–270 million	$94 million*

Snow White‘s $94 million has already passed Mulan, but it is far from every other remake’s total. The next closest is Cruella (2021), which earned $234 million against a $100 million budget. Snow White‘s massive budget means that it will need to nearly double Cruella‘s take, and that no longer appears to be a possibility, as the movie prepares to enter its third week in theaters. April will see the release of A Minecraft Movie in its first weekend, which will provide direct competition with the Disney remake. After disappointing against limited competition, the live-action adaptation could continue to struggle.

Our Take On Snow White’s Box Office

Will Disney Stop With The Live-Action Remakes?

From the start, Disney’s attempt at live-action remakes has always been a creatively bankrupt endeavor – a soulless attempt to cash in on nostalgia rather than creating new, compelling stories. Though their live-action remakes started by performing well financially, several of them, such as The Little Mermaid and Snow White, have now disappointed at the box office. It’s a sign that audiences are growing tired of seeing Disney’s beloved classics rehashed in live-action and perhaps want to see something new.

Lilo & Stitch‘s live-action remake is scheduled for a May 23, 2025 release, while Moana should be released on July 10, 2026.

This movie, in particular, has failed to match expectations. ScreenRant‘s Rachel Labonte reviewed Snow White and found that it has “an artificial sheen” and lacks “the grounded realism found in some of Disney’s previous live-action adventures“. Future Disney adaptations, including the much-anticipated Lilo & Stitch and Hercules, could very well avoid those trappings, but they will still be live-action depictions of movies that were originally designed for animation. No matter how expressive the Stitch design or the eerie CGI dwarves can be, it is difficult to combat the reality that these movies were animated for a reason.

Source: The Numbers