Disney’s Snow White Remake May Face Uphill Battle to Break Even After Sleepy Start at the Box Office

Disney's latest live-action remake, *Snow White*, faced a challenging start at the box office, marking one of the lowest domestic openings for a Disney remake to date. Directed by Marc Webb, known for his work on *The Amazing Spider-Man* films, *Snow White* debuted with a domestic box office total of $43 million. While this figure was enough to lead the week's chart and rank as the second highest opener of 2025, it fell short of the $45 million opening achieved by the live-action *Dumbo* in 2019 and missed the mark set by industry estimates.

To put this in perspective, other Disney remakes like *The Lion King* (2019), *Beauty and the Beast* (2017), *The Jungle Book* (2016), and *The Little Mermaid* (2023) all boasted opening weekend earnings exceeding $100 million domestically.

The film's international performance was similarly subdued, with an opening weekend haul of $44.3 million, bringing the global total to $87.3 million according to Comscore estimates.

*Snow White* is a reimagining of Disney's iconic 1937 animated film, 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 hefty production budget reportedly over $250 million, and considering additional marketing expenses, the film now faces a steep climb to reach profitability.

However, there's potential for a turnaround. Disney's *Mufasa: The Lion King*, a prequel to the successful *Lion King* remake, started with a modest $35.4 million domestically but eventually amassed over $717 million worldwide. Disney will be banking on a similar 'sleeper hit' success for *Snow White*, especially as questions linger about the performance of *Captain America: Brave New World*, which has earned $400.8 million globally after six weekends, with $192.1 million from the domestic market and $208.7 million internationally.

IGN's review of *Snow White* awarded it a 7/10, noting that the film "meaningfully adapts its original, rather than creating a lesser mimicry."