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Credit: DisneyOn March 21, Disney released what might be its most controversial live-action remake to date: Snow White. The film starred Rachel Zegler as the titular princess and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. From the start, the film was surrounded by criticism and controversy. The troll came out in force, saying that Zegler — who is Colombian and Polish — did not have the right look to play Snow White.
While that critique can be glossed over, it was far from the only issue surrounding the film. Instead of using actors from the Little People community, Disney decided to use CGI to create the dwarves. And many felt the dwarves looked too fake for the new film.
Related: Disney’s ‘Snow White’ Becomes One of the Worst Rated Movies on the Internet
And then there was the lead actress herself, who seemingly could not stop digging a deeper and deeper hole.
From the jump, Ms. Zegler made it clear that she wasn’t a fan of the original tale, and said that her version of Snow White would take a more proactive role, instead of simply having things happen to her. She even went so far as to say that Snow White didn’t even need a prince.
Then, she made even more enemies with her stance on the war between Israel and the Palestinian people. Ms. Zegler has stood by the Palestinian people, which put her at odds with costar Gal Gadot, who is Israeli.
Unfortunately, Disney was unable to dig itself out of the Snow White hole and the film opened to a very sluggish box office. The film only made $42 million at the domestic box office, with earnings dropping more than 50% the following weekend. Considering the film needs to make around $500 million to break even, things aren’t looking great for Disney.
And now, a well-known podcaster is demanding a federal investigation into how much money Disney spent to make Snow White.
Related: ‘She’s Missing the Point,’ Fans Drag Rachel Zegler for Her Latest ‘Snow White’ Comments
In a recent episode of his podcast, Joe Rogan spoke out against Disney’s “woke” retelling of its original princess.
“Wait, how much did this cost? They should get DOGE to look at this movie. They spent $250 million bucks making that movie?”
“Imagine you spent $250 million, and you get some young girl, and you don’t kind of talk to her about like, ‘Hey, you know, don’t get political. You’re young, and I know you have opinions about things, but this should just be about the movie.'”
It should be noted that Snow White producer Marc Platt reportedly flies out to see Zegler to discuss the politically charged comments she is making.
While Mr. Rogan might think it is appropriate for Elon Musk and DOGE to investigate the money spent on Snow White, that is unlikely to happen. Firstly, the money spent on the film falls pretty in line with the average cost to make a similar style of film.
Second, DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency. It is in charge of investigating and finding government waste. So, there would be no reason to look into Disney’s finances since Disney is not a part of the United States government.
Sadly, the effects of Snow White’s box office failure are being felt in unexpected places.
It was recently reported that Disney has put plans for its live-action remake of Tangled (2010) on the back burner. With how poorly Snow White performed, Disney is reportedly hesitant to make another live-action princess film.
What do you think about Joe Rogan’s comments? Should Disney’s Snow White spending be investigated? Or should everyone just move on? Share your thoughts in the comments!