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Credit: DisneyThere’s no way to sugarcoat it: Disney’s live-action Snow White (2025) is a disaster. During its opening weekend, the remake only brought in $43 million domestically and $44.3 internationally, bringing its worldwide total to $87.3 million at the box office.
Earlier estimates suggested that Snow White would open with a respectable $50-$75 million. However, with social media buzzing with photos of empty seta, the film fell well below those early estimates.
Much like its financials, early reviews for Snow White were mixed. While most reviews questioned the quality of the film, the reviews for star Rachel Zegler were generally positive.
Snow White’s dismal opening weekend put it on par with Disney’s live-action Dumbo (2019) and The Marvels (2023), two films that cost Disney tens of millions of dollars.
Reports indicate that Disney spent well over $240 million on Snow White after multiple reshoots and delays. That does not include the money Disney spent on publicity for the film.
Despite the negativity surrounding the film, Zegler found a reason to celebrate this week. She took to social media and wrote, “#1 Movie in the World.”
Technically speaking, Zegler is right. Snow White was the number one movie, but when you look at the competition, it’s more of a participation trophy than a victory for Disney.
Robert DeNiro’s Alto Knights (2025) earned $3.2 million, and Jonathan Major’s Magazine Dreams (2025) earned $700,000. Disney owned the Majors film but dropped the film after he was accused of domestic violence. He was also dropped from his role as Kang in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
With little family-friendly competition coming out this week, Snow White could be number one at the box office for back-to-back weeks. However, as many fans pointed out, being number one isn’t going to help Disney break even on the film.
Fans once again dragged Zegler for her relatively benign comments about her film. Many fans point out that Snow White vastly underperformed its expectations and other similar Disney live-action films while true.
One fan wrote of Zegler’s comments:
How is it number one if no one is watching it? It only got number one because there was zero competition at the box office. It will cost Disney millions for years to come.
While it appeared that Zegler was genuinely celebrating her film, many commentators’ views have been tainted by her past comments. So, no matter what she says, there will be some backlash.
For Disney, there is little left to do but count how much money they’ve lost and move on. Lilo and Stitch (2025) will hit theaters in less than two months, and the conversation will completely change.