Rachel Zegler Horror-Comedy ‘Y2K’ Continues Downward Spiral at Box Office, Is Snow White Drama to Blame?

December 17, 2024  ·
  Marvin Montanaro
Rachel Zegler Snow White Singing

Rachel Zegler singing in the Snow White Trailer - YouTube, Disney

Rachel Zegler continues to experience box office woes as her struggling horror comedy, Y2K, faced a massive 67% drop in its second weekend.

When Y2K burst onto the scene, it earned a paltry $2.1 million, far less than anyone would expect from a movie featuring someone Hollywood has tried to position as a rising superstar. But that scant $2.1 million opening looked like Avengers Endgame compared to what Zegler’s film encountered in its second weekend.

Rachel Zegler in West Side Story

Rachel Zegler as Maria in 20th Century Studios’ WEST SIDE STORY. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2021 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

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Coming in number thirteen at the domestic box office, Zegler’s movie pulled in just $684,957 on 1,948 screens. For comparison, it fell short of a re-release of the 1954 film White Christmas, which earned $1.1 million on 1,084 screens.

Yes, a seventy-year-old movie on nearly half as many screens nearly doubled Zegler’s second-weekend box office gross.

Rachel Zegler talking

Rachel Zegler via Good Morning America YouTube

Y2K provides an interesting case study in Zegler’s popularity and star power. None of her previous high-profile films achieved major success, and all relied on existing intellectual property or personalities.

West Side Story was a remake of a classic musical, directed by none other than the living legend himself, Steven Spielberg. Zegler starred as Maria in that film, and it bombed spectacularly.

Shazam: Fury of The Gods was a DC film and one of the final entries in the failed Snyderverse. Zegler played one of the antagonists, and it performed horrifically at the box office.

The Hunger Games: A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes serves as a prequel to the ultra-popular Hunger Games series. Zegler had a starring role, and while the film didn’t lose money, it remains the lowest-grossing entry in the Hunger Games franchise.

Rachel Zegler in Hunger Games

Honor Gillies as Barb Azure, Konstantin Taffet as Clerk Carmine and Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Photo Credit: Murray Close

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Y2K was the first movie marketed exclusively on Rachel Zegler star power. It was the first time a Hollywood studio said, come see this “Rachel Zegler movie.”

And the moviegoing public loudly and proudly said, “no.”

It’s not surprising, given Zegler’s outlandish, childish behavior since she was cast as Snow White for Disney. She immediately arrived on the scene with a chip on her shoulder, as if challenging the world to take issue with a Hispanic woman playing Snow White. She felt the need to clarify that she wouldn’t bleach her skin to play the role, something no one expected her to do.

Snow White and the 7 CGI Dwarves

Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Snow White (2025), Walt Disney Studios

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She also spoke out in a series of increasingly cringey interviews and made wildly tone-deaf comparisons, including likening herself to priceless sculptures in the Louvre.

Then she attacked the original Walt Disney animated classic, calling it sexist and outdated, while comparing Snow White’s prince to a stalker.

Rachel Zegler as Snow White at a wishing well

Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Disney’s live-action SNOW WHITE. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Zegler worsened the situation by using the Snow White trailer and its publicity to advocate for Palestine. Many quickly pointed out that Zegler’s Snow White co-star, Gal Gadot, is a veteran of the Israeli army.

In the wake of the 2024 US presidential election, the controversial actress finally went too far when she launched an unhinged tirade against President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters. She appeared to wish them harm or misfortune when she said, “may Trump and his supporters never know peace.”

Rachel Zegler as Snow White

Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Snow White (2025), Walt Disney Studios

Outrage over this comment reached such a fever pitch that Zegler had to issue an official apology on social media. However, whether she wrote the apology herself is anyone’s guess.

As of this writing, the most recent Snow White trailer has a stunning 96.2% dislike-to-like ratio. Since her apology and the trailer’s release, Zegler has remained oddly silent and absent from the public eye.

Do you think the Snow White outrage caused people to skip the Rachel Zegler film Y2K? Or did audiences simply have no interest in a comedy-horror film about the Y2K panic a quarter century after it happened? Sound off in the comments and let us know!

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Author: Marvin Montanaro
Marvin Montanaro is the Editor-in-Chief of That Park Place and a seasoned entertainment journalist with nearly two decades of experience across multiple digital media outlets and print publications. He joined That Park Place in 2024, bringing with him a passion for theme parks, pop culture, and film commentary. Based in Orlando, Florida, Marvin regularly visits Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando, offering firsthand reporting and analysis from the parks. He’s also the creative force behind the Tooney Town YouTube channels, where he appears as his satirical alter ego, Marvin the Movie Monster. Montanaro’s insights are rooted in years of real-world reporting and editorial leadership. He can be reached via email at mmontanaro@thatparkplace.com SOCIAL MEDIA: X: http://x.com/marvinmontanaro Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marvinmontanaro Facebook: https://facebook.com/marvinmontanaro Email: mmontanaro@thatparkplace.com
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drakiesan

She is pretty but lacks charisma and is of mediocre talent… And what is worst, her personality. She is the worst kind of diva.

Plus the movies she played at… they were bad themselves.

Last edited 1 year ago by drakiesan
DemocratPeteOphelia

She”s not pretty. There’s a huge expanse between her eyes. She’s creepy looking.

Bunny With A Keyboard

The woke deliberately choose unattractive women. If they’re handed an attractive woman for an actor or model for a game character, they’ll go out of their way to make her hideous.

CleatusDefeatus

I’ll give that. She ain’t bad until that mouth flaps open. That’s the horror.

Bunny With A Keyboard

Any movie Rachel Zegler is in has a fundamental flaw: it has Rachel Zegler in it. The only way to fix this is to remove her from the movie.

CleatusDefeatus

I wish I could come up with a witty redrawing of Groucho Marx’s quote “I’d never join a club who accept someone like me as a member” using her banality.

bigguybingo

She sucks but she’s also not super memorable in Y2K and isn’t the main character.

I’m not sure I’d blame her for the movie’s lack of success. Her public persona sure didn’t help but the movie also isn’t very funny or good which is a shame because I like Kyle Mooney.

The true test will be the release of Snow White.

CleatusDefeatus

Honest question because I’m too old and my kids, too young: do teenagers even go to the movies any more? I mean malt shops were super popular for the baby boomers but were completely dead when my Gen X ass grew up. Same with Drive-Ins.

DemocratPeteOphelia

I’m Gen X and we loved the drive-in until it closed down. You could sneak people in by hiding them in the trunk!

CleatusDefeatus

They died off here before I hit 10 unfortunately.

Arc

Movie probably sucked, her being unlikeable is probably secondary, but hate farming + bad movie DEI writers + Current world views. She is not getting any more work after Snowwhite thats for sure

Mex Mexican

Extremely mid to begin with