Media Report Snow White is the Number One Movie on Disney+ Following Its Debut, But Is Rachel Zegler Really a Comeback Kid?

Disney is rolling out the red carpet for Snow White—but it’s not the kind you’d expect. With the live-action remake starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot having arrived on Disney+ on June 11, the studio was quick to highlight a not-so-surprising fact: the movie soared to the #1 spot on every major Disney+ chart worldwide within days. There’s important caveat to make here and we’ll get to that in just a moment.

Opening Disney+ today I did not like seeing this I wanted this movie to flop like it did in the movie theater. This a trash awful movie to me. Unfortunately the Snow White remake has got trending #1 on Disney+ #SnowWhite #DisneyPlus the Old OG animated Snow White better to me! pic.twitter.com/z7OfkkUK45

— Troy Lion 🦁 (@soreo_joshua) June 12, 2025

It should be very clearly stated that Disney Plus has a “top ten” list, but our understanding is that it does not in any way correlate to actual viewers or view time. If that were the case, Bluey would be at the top every single week. Instead, we believe that Disney purposefully curates the list for their own purposes and then the list is used for public relations and marketing. In other words, while Snow White likely is the #1 movie streaming on Disney Plus in its first three days of hitting the service (we see this time and time again with box office releases coming to the service, regardless of their success or failure), sites using the “top ten” on Disney Plus are doing a disservice to their readers.

That said, we do expect Nielsen and/or Illuminate will show Snow White to have achieved at least decent numbers in its first week on streaming. Why wouldn’t it? There’s no cost to viewers for tuning into and viewing something that they likely didn’t go see in theaters.

The view count and dislike ratio for the second trailer for Disney’s live action Snow White starring Rachel Zegler – YouTube, Disney

This marketing “triumph” couldn’t come at a more critical time. Snow White’s theatrical debut in March 2025 was a public misfire on a scale that was once rare for Disney. With a hefty $370 million-plus production budget, the film managed to gross only $205 million globally—earning the label of a box office bomb.

Critics were largely unimpressed—some praising Zegler’s performance but criticizing the reimagined dwarfs and political tone. Audience reactions were lukewarm too: a 40% critics’ score (Rotten Tomatoes) and only 71% audience rating, with a CinemaScore of B+. For those not in-the-know, a CinemaScore lower than A- is not good with their quite odd grading system.

Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen in Disney’s live-action SNOW WHITE. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Enter Phase Two: damage control via streaming. By shepherding Snow White quickly to Disney+, the studio is clearly hoping that the convenience of home viewing, combined with curiosity over the controversy and casting—and reshape the public narrative. A tried-and-true method for Disney is to move a flop to streaming and there claim that it caught new life, new momentum, a new lease on success… all while never really giving us the sort of justification that analysts would want to believe it. 

Streaming success stories—especially for films that underperform theatrically—are increasingly part of Disney’s playbook. Business Insider notes the studio is banking on streaming, VOD rentals, ABC/Freeform airings, theme park tie-ins, and merchandise to salvage profitability . FlixPatrol’s #1 ranking suggests this strategy may be paying off—at least in terms of headline numbers flixpatrol.com. However, just like with Parrot Analytics, we remain extraordinarily skeptical of rubrics and data analysis groups that use nebulous “internet buzz” to justify economic failure. Shareholders aren’t paid in “internet buzz”.

Metrics That Matter

Disney’s Strategic Pivot

1. Swift streaming release — 83 days after theatrical opening, notably faster than recent Disney films like Mufasa: The Lion King (~100+ days)… and breaking the normal 90 day window Disney keeps as a minimum between theatrical release and streaming debut.

2. Promotion of streaming win — Disney publicists and Screen Rant headlines now lead with “#1 on Disney+”; a narrative shift from box office numbers to streaming dominance.

3. Extended reach — Disney+ algorithm boosts, combined with pricey VOD and bundled subscriptions, create multiple revenue streams to try to salvage as much of the film’s potential as possible after hundreds of millions in box office losses.

4. Avoiding theatrical anchor — Where reviews and box office were weak, streamer enthusiasm gives Disney fresh marketing ammo—and breathing space for home-viewing royalties. Disney can then make the Encanto claim that the film found its audience in the secondary market. Since Disney controls Disney+, there’s really no way for anyone to check that and thus the narrative is set in place.

Sure, Snow White is topping Disney+ charts—but that doesn’t erase its on-screen and behind-the-scenes turmoil. The streaming debut is clearly phase two of Disney’s strategy: rebrand the movie as a hit under a more controllable PR narrative. It’s a textbook pivot from a theatrical stumble to an online spotlight.

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

But is ranking first on a platform with curated content a real measure of success? Time and transparent streaming numbers will tell. For now, Disney is leaning hard into this streaming spin—using one #1 ranking to counterbalance months of box office and critical baggage.