Disney's Snow White Remake Struggles to Break Even After Slow Box Office Start

Snow White, directed by Marc Webb, known for his work on The Amazing Spider-Man films, faced a challenging start at the box office, pulling in one of the lowest opening weekend totals for a Disney remake. According to Comscore, the film debuted with a domestic box office of $43 million, marking it as the second highest-grossing film of 2025 so far, only behind Captain America: Brave New World. Despite topping the week's chart, its performance fell short of the $45 million domestic opening achieved by the live-action Dumbo in 2019 and was below industry expectations.

For comparison, other Disney remakes like 2019's The Lion King, 2017's Beauty and the Beast, 2016's The Jungle Book, and 2023's The Little Mermaid all surpassed the $100 million mark during their opening weekends domestically.

Internationally, Snow White also had a subdued launch, earning $44.3 million over its opening weekend. This brings the film's global box office total to $87.3 million, as per Comscore estimates.

Snow White is a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1937 animated classic, featuring Rachel Zegler, a seasoned musical actress, in the titular role, and Gal Gadot, known for her portrayal of Wonder Woman, as the Evil Queen. With a reported production budget exceeding $250 million, the film's opening figures suggest a steep climb to profitability, especially when factoring in marketing expenses.

However, there's potential for a turnaround, as seen with Mufasa: The Lion King, a prequel to Disney's The Lion King remake. Despite a modest domestic opening of $35.4 million in December, it ultimately grossed over $717 million worldwide. Disney is likely hoping for a similar 'sleeper hit' success with Snow White, amidst ongoing scrutiny over the performance of Captain America: Brave New World, which has accumulated $400.8 million globally ($192.1 million domestic and $208.7 million international) after six weekends.

IGN's review of Snow White scored it a 7/10, commending the film for being a meaningful adaptation of the original rather than a mere imitation.