MOVIE NEWS – It looks like Snow White has more to fear than just poisoned apples—her box office future is looking just as toxic. Disney’s live-action remake of the beloved classic is already facing significant backlash due to controversies surrounding its lead actresses, Gal Gadot and Rachel Zegler. However, new projections paint an even grimmer picture, suggesting that the film may fall far short of the previously estimated $63-$70 million opening weekend haul.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Snow White is now expected to bring in a much lower domestic opening weekend total of $48-$58 million. Earlier reports from Boxoffice Pro had projected that Marc Webb’s take on the classic fairy tale could reach between $65-$85 million. Even the lowest estimate in that range was far more promising than the bleak numbers revealed in the latest forecast.

Even if the film manages to hit the higher end of its new estimates, an opening weekend of $58 million would still be considered disastrous when compared to Disney’s other live-action adaptations. For reference, 2019’s The Lion King pulled in a staggering $191.8 million (via Box Office Mojo) during its July 19-22 debut. While Webb’s re-imagining may still outperform the 2021 release of Cruella, which opened with a modest $21.5 million, that’s hardly a win for Disney’s new take on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs—especially considering that the original animated version debuted all the way back in 1937.

Will ‘Snow White’ Rank Among Disney’s Top Live-Action Adaptations?

Disney was already struggling with the controversy surrounding Rachel Zegler’s Snow White, not to mention the intense backlash the film received following the release of its teaser trailer in August 2024. If the live-action adaptation only manages to rake in $48-$58 million domestically on opening weekend, it will have a hard time breaking into Disney’s Top 10 highest-grossing live-action remakes.

Based on these projections, Snow White could land at either the #9 or #10 spot among Disney’s biggest live-action updates. However, with these latest forecasts looking so weak, it seems unlikely that director Marc Webb’s version will perform much better than that. It also significantly reduces the film’s chances of breaking the coveted billion-dollar mark in global box office sales.

Snow White will hit theaters on March 21, 2025, going head-to-head with Robert De Niro’s The Alto Knights and Flying Lotus’ Ash. For those eager to compare the new version with its predecessor, the original animated Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is currently available for streaming on Disney+, as are most of Disney’s other live-action adaptations—except for Maleficent, which remains unavailable on the platform.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter