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

Snow White, directed by Marc Webb known for The Amazing Spider-Man series, faced a challenging start at the box office, marking one of the lowest opening weekends for Disney's live-action remakes. According to Comscore, the film earned $43 million domestically during its debut, securing the second highest opening of 2025 behind only the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Captain America: Brave New World. Despite topping this week's chart, Snow White fell short of the $45 million opening set by the live-action Dumbo in 2019 and did not meet pre-release estimates.

For comparison, previous 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 in their domestic opening weekends. Internationally, Snow White's performance was similarly modest, pulling in $44.3 million, leading to a global total of $87.3 million as reported by Comscore.

This live-action adaptation of Disney’s 1937 animated classic features Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. With a hefty production budget exceeding $250 million, the film now faces a significant challenge to reach profitability, especially considering the additional marketing expenses.

However, there is a glimmer of hope for Snow White. Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King, a prequel to their Lion King remake, initially opened to a disappointing $35.4 million domestically but went on to amass over $717 million worldwide. Disney is likely banking on a similar 'sleeper hit' success story for Snow White, even as questions persist about the performance of Captain America: Brave New World, which has grossed $400.8 million globally after six weekends.

IGN's review of Snow White awarded it a 7/10, noting that "Snow White is a live-action Disney remake that meaningfully adapts its original, rather than creating a lesser mimicry."