The crisis facing Walt Disney Company over its controversial Snow White reboot intensified today, as images surfaced of empty cinemas and screens with no bookings during prime time slots after a disappointing opening weekend.
Studio executives had hoped the reboot of the 1937 classic, which carried a hefty budget of over $270 million (£210 million), would generate at least $100 million (£79 million) in ticket sales.
However, the film, starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, only grossed $87.3 million (£67.4 million) globally, including $43 million (£33 million) in the US, following a sluggish start and a wave of negative reviews.
In mainland China, Snow White struggled to make an impact, ranking outside the top five movies in cinemas and grossing less than $1 million (£800,000) in its first three days.
The film has faced accusations of being too ‘woke’ after reimagining the Seven Dwarfs as a group of ‘magical creatures,’ while comments made by Zegler and Gadot before the release have also drawn backlash.
The Mail’s Brian Viner described it as a ‘painfully muddled affair,’ stating, ‘This production has been cursed from the start. Disney’s clumsy attempts not to offend anyone have somehow managed to offend everyone.’
One potential moviegoer shared on social media that the film sold zero tickets at one point for a prime weekend slot in the US, and just one for another screening. They posted on X: ‘Opening Friday night for Disney’s Snow White in Imax. Only ONE person bought tickets for tonight. Yeah, this movie’s gonna flop.’
The video shows a nearly empty cinema, with the only person visible being the lone cameraman.
Stunning images of cinema bookings expose just how much of a flop the ‘hilariously abysmal’ Snow White has turned out to be.
Accompanying the caption was a photo of the cinema booking screen, which displayed only one reserved seat.
They also shared another image of Saturday night’s bookings, writing: “And for Saturday night? ZERO. I’ve never seen a major Disney movie with this little interest on opening weekend. This is hilariously abysmal.”
The post garnered over 13 million views and sparked comments from others who had witnessed similar scenes in their cinemas. One person shared, “I have one better. Dolby Cinema and only a small handful of people.”
However, a former cinema worker offered an explanation for the lack of bookings, commenting, “I worked at a cinema for many years. You’ve screenshot the 10:15 pm showing. That’s pretty late, and it usually has much lower attendance. The busiest time is typically around 7 p.m.”
Meanwhile, another post on X shared a video of Zegler expressing her hope that people would “wait in line” to see the movies she stars in.
The post was captioned: “Before Snow White’s release, actress Rachel Zegler told critics that audiences would wait in line to see her. Snow White is the lowest-performing Disney movie in decades. No one waited in line to see it.”
In the clip, Zegler said, “I can only hope that despite my flaws and despite my cracks and my breaks—and there are many of them—that at every premiere and everything I do, people will wait in line to see.”
The Disney reboot of the classic 1812 princess fairy tale, starring Rachel Zegler (pictured) and Gal Gadot, was released on Friday.
It currently holds a 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and appears to be failing to attract fans as producers had hoped.
The new Snow White film took a different approach with the seven dwarfs, reimagining them as ‘magical creatures.’
Another video shared on X ironically captioned “so many people here to watch Snow White” showed a large, nearly empty cinema, panning across rows of vacant seats.
One person wrote, “Snow White and the seven viewers,” while another commented, “Go woke, go broke – live from the box office.”
MailOnline reached out to viewers for their thoughts on the controversial remake, and many were unimpressed.
Friends Shannon, 28, and Chelsea, 24, expressed disappointment with the film, giving it a one-star rating.
Shannon said, “We didn’t like it. It wasn’t well-developed. They added so many things that went nowhere. It felt like there was no clear direction. The story lacked purpose. It’s supposed to be Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, yet the dwarfs were barely in it.”
Karen Gravis, 46, criticized Disney’s use of CGI to create the dwarfs, saying, “I didn’t like that. They should have just hired real people for the roles. That was disappointing.”
However, NHS worker Rachel Bulman, 50, gave the film 4.5 stars, praising it as “really good.” She added, “It stayed true to the story’s message: if you’re kind and fair, you can overcome anything.”
Mahgor Bakhtiari, 23, a Persian student in London, wasn’t bothered by the decision to cut Prince Charming from the story, though her boyfriend, Arian Dehghnai, 21, felt his absence left “something missing.”
Oliver Thydeman, 31, a kitchen worker, welcomed the changes, saying, “If they stuck to the original, it would have been a bit bland. It’s nice to have a different ending.”
Meanwhile, Celeste Jay, 37, who works in retail and lives in South London, said, “I don’t get the criticism. I think a love story is nice,” though she added, “It probably is a bit woke.”
The remake has faced backlash due to comments from Zegler and the omission of the iconic song “Someday My Prince Will Come.”
Mahgor Bakhtiari, 23 (right), applauded the changes, while her boyfriend, Arian Dehghnai, 21, expressed concerns about the use of CGI to create the seven dwarfs.
Karen Gravis, 46, said she enjoyed the film, though she had some reservations about the use of CGI.
A Fresh Take on the Ending: Oliver Thydeman, 31, said he had no issue with the new film straying from the original.
In a 2022 interview, Zegler commented, “The original focuses so much on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird, weird. So we didn’t do that this time.”
The film had much grander ambitions, particularly as it marked a return to Disney’s roots. The 1937 original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the company’s first animated feature and played a pivotal role in funding its studio lot in Burbank, California.
The lead-up to the film’s release was marred by controversies surrounding its portrayal of the dwarfs, who were rendered using CGI, prompting Disney to pull back on its premiere.
There was also backlash over pro-Palestinian comments made by Zegler and pro-Israel remarks by Israeli actress Gadot.
Critics were underwhelmed by the live-action remake, with the film receiving just 44% ‘fresh’ reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
Snow White opened in the US with a disappointing $46 million, performing worse than 2019’s Dumbo, and falling far behind Cinderella, which earned $68 million in 2015.
The underwhelming results are likely to raise further questions about Disney’s long-term strategy of producing live-action remakes from its animated classics, with new versions of Moana and Tangled in the works, along with a live-action Lilo & Stitch set to release in May.
Efforts to modernize Snow White quickly ran into trouble, with actor Peter Dinklage criticizing the remake plans in 2022 as “backward.”
Disney also made the decision to drop “And The Seven Dwarfs” from the original title, opting to animate the dwarfs instead, while delays and reshoots further increased production costs.
Meanwhile, another post on X shared a video of Rachel expressing her hope that people would “wait in line” to see the movies she stars in.
Rachel Zegler stars as Snow White in Disney’s live-action remake.
The film has been described as “one of the most troubled projects in Disney’s 102-year history” by The New York Times.
Reviews have been harsh, with The Guardian calling it “toe-curlingly terrible,” while others were more forgiving, with The Washington Post labeling it “surprisingly entertaining.”
“While it’s a disappointing opening weekend, we can’t judge the film’s overall performance until we see how it holds up in the coming weeks,” said Daniel Loria, senior vice president at Boxoffice Company.
Focus Features’ spy thriller Black Bag, starring Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett, rose to second place in the US, earning $4.4 million, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.
In third place, also up one spot from the previous weekend, was Marvel and Disney’s Captain America: Brave New World, which grossed $4.1 million. The latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe stars Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford.
Bong Joon-ho’s black comedy Mickey 17, featuring Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo, dropped to fourth place with $3.9 million. The sci-fi film follows the lives and deaths surrounding a man who volunteers for hazardous space missions.
Last weekend’s leader, Paramount’s action-comedy Novocaine, saw a decline in ticket sales, bringing in just $3.8 million.
