The numbers are in, and they’re damning. Disney’s troubled live-action Snow White remake earned a paltry $3.5 million in Thursday box office preview showings. That figure alone would be embarrassing for any Disney tentpole, but when you stack it against Marvel Studios’ widely panned flop The Marvels, the situation becomes downright catastrophic.
Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL
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The Marvels, which has become a cautionary tale within the Disney machine, still managed $6.5 million in Thursday previews. That’s nearly 46% higher than Snow White’s opening night take. And what happened to The Marvels after that soft start? It went on to open to just $46 million and earned just $206 million worldwide through its entire run. The film was universally recognized as one of the studio’s biggest box office flops.
And somehow Snow White did worse.
Dopey in the Live Action Snow White movie – YouTube, Disney
Now imagine what lies ahead for Snow White—a film burdened with an eye-watering $250 million-plus budget, a wave of bad press, a Rotten 46% critic score, and a lead actress who has alienated large swaths of the audience.
Yet if you’re reading outlets like The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, or The Wrap, you’d think Disney is on the verge of another Frozen-level success.
A leaked photo from the set of Snow White showing the dwarfs as diverse actors of various sizes – YouTube, The Critical Drinker
Each outlet has rushed out glowing headlines, bending over backward to spin the disastrous opening. THR even had the audacity to call the $3.5 million haul “promising,” while comparing it to the underwhelming $2.8 million preview of Dumbo—a film no one considers a success story. It should be noted Dumbo had a budget of just $170 million. The failure of Dumbo was so extreme that Tim Burton stopped making movies for five years after its release, effectively ending his long-standing relationship with Disney.
(L-R): Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen and Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Disney’s live-action SNOW WHITE. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.
In other words, outperforming Dumbo is far from the symbol of excellence the mainstream access media wants you to believe it is.
Deadline went further, reaching for comparisons to Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and even this year’s Kung Fu Panda 4, completely ignoring how much smaller those films’ budgets and expectations were compared to Disney’s live-action remake of their first animated classic.
Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen in Disney’s live-action SNOW WHITE. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved
The spin doesn’t stop there. These outlets point to factors like spring break timing, premium format screens, and supposed “strong interest among young girls,” as if those details will magically fix what’s already clear from the data. Disney itself reportedly saw early tracking estimates for Snow White north of $60 million, only to watch interest plummet over the past month to levels that suggest a bleak opening in the low $40 million range.
What none of these media mouthpieces want to discuss is the real reason behind the audience’s disinterest: Disney’s own mishandling of the film, from sidelining dwarf actors, to the divisive creative changes, to Rachel Zegler’s repeated inflammatory remarks.
Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Disney’s live-action SNOW WHITE. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved
Despite weeks of carefully scripted PR appearances, a tightly controlled Hollywood premiere, and a last-minute review embargo, audiences aren’t buying it.
This is not just a mild stumble. This is a full-blown implosion—one made even more glaring by the fact that Snow White opened 46% worse than The Marvels, a film widely regarded as one of Disney’s biggest failures.
Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Snow White (2025), Walt Disney Studios
Legacy media can try all they want to massage the narrative, but no amount of spin can hide these numbers. The audience has spoken, and it’s clear they’ve had enough.
What’s your reaction to this Snow White Thursday box office report. Sound off in the comments below and let us know!
I actually expected this. I’ve literally said on this site and others that I expected this film to get a mere 10% of the already-abysmal expected earnings of $45-55 million during its opening weekend. Now it looks like I might have been right on the money (no pun intended). I’m also certain Disney’s internal tracking expected these numbers and that’s why things were so weird with yesterday’s shareholder meeting: Iger is either busy trying to “fix” things (read: double down and make them worse) or is literally MIA.
The latter would be even worse for Mouse House because investor confidence will be shot all to hell if the captain has abandoned ship during a crisis. It’s too soon to tell, though.
The comparison of the marvel’less is funny because it still comes down to:
If a tree falls in a wood and no on is around, does it make a sound?
Does this movie even make a “sound”?