Disney's Snow White Teaser Bombs: Is a Major Box Office Flop on the Horizon?

The upcoming live-action adaptation of Disney’s classic tale, Snow White, is still under fire from critics, and its most recent teaser trailer has only fanned the flames. Released over the weekend, the new teaser garnered 1.7 million views but was met with a wave of disapproval, collecting just 5,300 likes against an astounding 81,000 dislikes. This pattern of overwhelmingly negative feedback has been consistent across all promotional content for the film, leading many to predict a disastrous box office performance when it premieres in theaters on March 21, 2025.

Right from the beginning, it’s clear that the movie Snow White has faced significant opposition, as evidenced by the mounting number of disapprovals. The initial teaser trailer, launched in mid-2024, is the most prominent with 11 million views, but its 101,000 likes are overshadowed by a staggering 1.5 million dislikes. The full trailer, premiered in December, has garnered 9.3 million views, but is heavily criticized with 1.2 million dislikes compared to only 44,000 likes. Even the exclusive peek of Rachel Zegler’s rendition of “Waiting on a Wish” has become synonymous with the film’s downfall, accumulating 396,000 views, a mere 5,300 likes, and a crushing 50,000 dislikes.

The negative response to the remake of “Snow White” is largely due to a combination of questionable creative decisions, debatable casting options, and divisive actions by the main actress, Rachel Zegler.

Zegler’s critical remarks towards the cherished 1937 animated film, labeling it old-fashioned and sexist, immediately distanced Disney’s dedicated audience. Her politically charged statements, including provocative comments about Donald Trump and his supporters, only added to the tension. The controversial statement, “May Trump and his supporters never know peace,” ignited a storm of anger, compelling her to issue an apology that many deemed disingenuous.

The way Zegler has distanced himself/herself from others has turned him/her into a focus of criticism, significantly increasing the amount of negative feedback on various social media sites.

Criticism has been widespread regarding Disney’s approach to the Seven Dwarfs. Originally, they intended to hire actors with dwarfism for the famous roles. However, Peter Dinklage, an actor with dwarfism from “Game of Thrones,” criticized this move as insensitive and outdated. This sparked outrage among the community of dwarf actors, who felt that Dinklage, a highly successful Hollywood actor in such roles, was closing doors for others by climbing the ladder himself.

In reaction to Dinklage’s protest, Disney abandoned their initial idea and chose seven actors from various backgrounds, with just one being a person of short stature. However, when images from this new cast were leaked, viewers reacted strongly, claiming that Disney was making a show of inclusivity while denying roles to actors with dwarfism. Facing criticism again, Disney opted to use CGI instead for the dwarfs in their live-action version – a decision that has been heavily criticized for its subpar visuals and lack of appeal, exacerbating the growing wave of negative opinions about Snow White.

Off-camera, the movie adaptation of Snow White has experienced a tumultuous production journey marked by numerous reshoots, pushing its estimated budget up to an astonishing $300 million. With such a high cost, it needs to generate substantial revenue at the box office to turn a profit—a challenge as the tide of audience disapproval and indifference rises.

The early predictions suggest potential concerns for box office earnings, as industry analyst Quorum foresees a domestic opening weekend range of between $63 and $70 million, with certain figures approximating around $65 million.

In terms of Zegler’s domestic box office opening, this new movie will set a record for her career—beating her previous high of $44.6 million from The Hunger Games: A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. However, it falls significantly short of Disney’s past live-action blockbusters like The Lion King (2019) and Beauty and the Beast (2017), which launched with $191.77 million and $174.7 million respectively, and ultimately grossed over a billion dollars worldwide. Even The Little Mermaid (2023), despite being considered a financial disappointment with its domestic opening of $95.6 million, managed to earn $569.6 million globally. Based on current predictions, it appears that Snow White won’t even come close to reaching that level of success.

Some optimists view the 2014 movie “Maleficent” as a positive example; however, its strong opening of $69.4 million and total worldwide gross of $758.5 million were largely due to Angelina Jolie’s fame – something that newcomer Zegler struggles with, given her controversial status in the upcoming remake of Snow White. Furthermore, the recent box office failure of Zegler’s film “Y2K,” which earned only $4.2 million, raises further concerns. With Zegler’s reputation diminished and the movie already receiving a lot of negative feedback, Disney’s latest remake seems headed for trouble.

With the release date drawing nearer, the negative reactions towards the upcoming “Snow White” movie don’t seem to be abating. Each fresh trailer elicits even more harsh criticism and increasing apathy, suggesting that Disney’s version of “Snow White” might be on track for one of their biggest box office failures ever.

2025-02-17 15:55

Disney’s Snow White Teaser Bombs: Is a Major Box Office Flop on the Horizon?

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