Nearly a year has passed since the live-action adaptation of "Snow White" arrived in theaters and crashed at the box office. The high-profile production starring Rachel Zegler as Disney's first princess and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen received particularly cold reviews (50 lukewarm on Metacritic, 39 rotten on Rotten Tomatoes, and an especially embarrassing 2.2 on IMDb), and the studio has been known to have lost considerable money on the project.
Beyond the mediocrity of the film itself – and that can still be debated – there is no doubt that "Snow White" also failed, and perhaps primarily, because of the drama that unfolded behind the scenes.
Much has already been written about the condescending criticism Zegler hurled at the original animated work; about complaints from some audiences that Zegler is an actress of Latino descent with brown skin tone, while Snow White should be a pale-skinned maiden; about Gadot's participation during the Gaza war and calls from the BDS and other Palestinian organizations to boycott the film; and about claims that Disney chose to avoid casting actual short-statured actors to portray the seven dwarfs, instead opting to create computer-animated characters defined altogether as "magical creatures" rather than dwarfs.
Additionally, "Snow White" has been nominated for six Razzie Awards at the dubious ceremony scheduled for next month, including worst film, worst remake/sequel, worst supporting actor (all seven dwarfs... sorry, the magical creatures), and worst director (Marc Webb).
As if all that were not enough, a new report in the business magazine Forbes states that Disney lost a staggering $170 million on "Snow White," based on estimates that the film's production cost was at least $336 million.
However, the studio benefited from tax refunds totaling $65 million from the British government, where most of the film was shot, and therefore the final budget stands at $271 million – against revenues of $205 million worldwide.
The issue is that half the revenue sum – approximately $102 million – goes to the theaters, which, as mentioned, places Disney's losses in the $170 million range, not including advertising and marketing expenses. In short, not pleasant, and that is even before the Razzie distribution.
On the other hand, there is no need to pity Disney when it comes to live-action adaptations of their classic animation hits. The remake of "Lilo & Stitch," for example, which came out in May 2025 (two months after "Snow White"), grossed more than $1 billion, and estimates are that the new adaptation of "Moana," coming to us this July, will crush the box office without blinking.
Up next are remakes of "The Little Mermaid," "Hercules," and "Bambi" that have not yet received official release dates but are in development stages. Love it or not, the genre is not going anywhere.
