Snow White, Disney’s most recent live-action remake, could not find an audience as it tanked on opening weekend. It barely earned back $43 million (£33.3 million) at the North American box office. This marks the lowest debut for one of Disney's recent live-action adaptations, falling short of the company's expectations. The film, which reportedly went through chaotic, last-minute reshoots, now sports a rumored production budget of $270 million. This budget beats other recent remakes such as Dumbo at $170 million, The Lion King at $260 million and Aladdin at $183 million.
The film's performance is particularly disappointing when compared to Disney's other successful remakes. Snow White can’t catch a break at the box office. By comparison, remakes including Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King all made more than $1 billion globally. Tim Burton’s version of Dumbo made $45 million in its opening weekend in 2019. As ever, it’s important to stress that by the end of its run, the film grossed an impressive $353 million worldwide.
For Snow White, we have little confidence in its profitability given its high production budget. The film's disappointing start represents a "soft opening by Disney’s historic standard," according to David A Gross of FranchiseRe.
“It’s a soft opening by Disney’s historic standard. Success will depend on whether the film plays well for a couple of months like Mufasa recently did.” – David A Gross of FranchiseRe
Given all of these difficulties, Snow White performed disproportionately better in Republican “red” states than in Democrat “blue” states. Because of this, Republican counties made up 40% of ticket sales, showing that the overall reception of the film was better among more conservative audiences. This represents a significant departure from usual revenue trajectories for Disney films.
Comscore’s Paul Dargarabedian noted that the film’s family-friendly content continues to draw audiences. He appealed all four years of this case greater than any disputes about it above.
“In the case of Snow White, kids and families likely just wanted to see a PG film and [were] perhaps unaware of the controversies.” – Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore