Hoppers Had a Worse Debut than Rachel Zegler’s Snow White: The Media Pretends It’s the Opposite

The new movie from Pixar, Hoppers, may be performing worse than last year’s Snow White, the media refuses to say so.

The theatrical debuts of Disney’s live-action Snow White (2025) and Pixar’s animated Hoppers illustrate how dramatically the tone of media coverage can shape the public perception of a film’s box office performance. While the two movies opened to broadly similar revenue levels, the industry press treated their debuts very differently. Snow White was widely framed as a disappointment, while Hoppers is being described as a success story and a hopeful sign for original animation.

So what gives? What’s behind the narrative switcharoo?

Pixar has good reason to be jumping for joy over the opening of ‘Hoppers,’ which easily topped the weekend box office.

Full chart: https://t.co/aZ6fy4SKo7 pic.twitter.com/ZffUPoI76o

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 9, 2026

The Box Office Numbers

Disney’s Snow White, starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, debuted in March 2025 with $43 million at the domestic box office and roughly $87 million globally in its opening weekend. The opening was below earlier projections of around $50 million or more, and analysts noted that the film struggled to generate strong audience enthusiasm.

By comparison, Pixar’s Hoppers debuted in early 2026 with about $46 million domestically and $88 million worldwide in its opening weekend. However, Hoppers was given an extra day of previews along with additional IMAX screenings to pad the weekend. In reality, Snow White (2025) outperformed Hoppers. Consider what a colossal failure Rachel Zegler’s film was considered to be versus the media coverage today for Pixar’s latest.

The tone of media coverage surrounding the two films could hardly have been more different.

As Pixar celebrates its best opening for an original animation title since 2017’s ‘Coco’ with ‘Hoppers’ this weekend ($40M current forecast in U.S./Canada), there’s a bunch of buzz coming out of the Emeryville, CA studio.

Specifically, there’s a ‘Monsters Inc. 3’ in early works,… pic.twitter.com/h7CN7hw54H

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) March 9, 2026

Coverage surrounding Snow White tended to emphasize disappointment and controversy. Headlines frequently framed the film as underperforming, noting that its $43 million debut fell below expectations and raising questions about the project’s long-term profitability. Part of this narrative came from the film’s enormous cost. With a reported production budget of roughly $240 million to $270 million (actual production likely ballooned north of $300 million), the movie needed a very large global total to break even.

The project also entered theaters surrounded by cultural and political controversy. Debates about the casting, the redesign of the dwarfs, and comments from lead actress Rachel Zegler about the original 1937 film fueled months of negative headlines prior to release.

As a result, the opening weekend became framed as confirmation that the film had failed to live up to expectations. Trade publications and entertainment sites frequently described the launch with words such as “disappointing,” “limping,” or “underwhelming.”

The reaction to Hoppers has been almost the complete opposite. However, that’s not deserved.

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

News coverage emphasized the film’s strengths: strong critical reception, audience enthusiasm, and the fact that it was an original Pixar story rather than a sequel. Early reviews were highly positive, with the film scoring around 94–97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, one of Pixar’s strongest ratings in nearly a decade. Articles also highlighted that Hoppers delivered the best opening for an original animated film since Coco in 2017, framing the film as evidence that audiences still show up for new ideas. In reality, Hoppers is one of the worst-ever performing films in the history of Pixar, especially adjusted for inflation.

Rather than focusing on shortcomings, coverage often celebrated the result as a comeback moment for Pixar following several uneven releases. The film’s viral marketing campaign and social-media buzz were also highlighted as signs of strong audience engagement.

In other words, the exact same box office range that produced disappointment headlines for Snow White generated success headlines for Hoppers.

But why?

The difference in coverage ultimately reveals an important truth about modern box office reporting: expectations often matter more than the raw numbers. And even more importantly: reporting often reflects what the intended outcome will be.

Box Office: ‘Hoppers’ Eyes $40M-Plus Start in Key Win for Pixar as ‘The Bride!’ Enters Bomb Territory https://t.co/dzNcBoCtis

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 8, 2026

For Snow White, expectations were extremely high. Disney was reviving one of its most iconic properties and spending hundreds of millions of dollars to do it. When the film opened slightly below projections, the result was framed as a failure. Additionally, Hollywood had already turned against Rachel Zegler internally as a toxic, difficult young semi-star who goes against corporate leadership and puts other talent at risk. There was zero concern that a Snow White failure would destroy Disney live action films down the road or stop the Disney Princess line of money-making. Thus, Snow White was a narrative sacrifice Hollywood was happy to make. Journalists and influencers were given the green light to tell the truth, and thus the stories flowed.

For Hoppers, expectations were much lower and the risk for failure is tremendously higher. Original animated films have struggled in the theatrical market since the pandemic, and Pixar had recently leaned heavily on sequels for major hits. When Hoppers opened in the mid-$40 million range, the result was framed as a positive surprise. Framing the newest animated Disney film as a failure would put Toy Story 5 in a different narrative light, could make Pixar viewed as a damaged studio and might lead to investor concern about Disney’s dominant hold on animation. There’s no benefit to the industry in casting Hoppers as anything other than a glowing success. So that’s how the story is going to be.

In raw financial terms, Snow White (2025) and Hoppers opened to nearly identical box office numbers. Yet the reaction from the entertainment press could not have been more different.

But as always, there’s more to the story than just the story. Angles are made by big bosses looking for big pay, and they’d love you to ignore how little Hoppers really made.