Disney's Snow White Remake Struggles to Break Even Amid 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 domestic openings for a Disney live-action remake. According to Comscore, the film earned $43 million during its debut weekend in the U.S., which was enough to lead the week's chart and rank as the second highest domestic opening of 2025, only surpassed by the MCU's Captain America: Brave New World. Despite this, Snow White's performance fell short of the $45 million opening of the 2019 live-action Dumbo and below the expectations set for the film.

For comparison, other Disney remakes such as 2019’s The Lion King, 2017’s Beauty and the Beast, 2016’s The Jungle Book, and 2023’s The Little Mermaid all achieved over $100 million in their domestic opening weekends. Internationally, Snow White's opening was equally subdued, garnering $44.3 million, bringing its global total to $87.3 million, as per Comscore's estimates.

The live-action adaptation of Disney’s 1937 animated classic features Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. With a reported production budget exceeding $250 million, the film's initial box office performance suggests a difficult path to profitability, particularly when marketing expenses are factored in.

However, there is hope for Snow White, drawing inspiration from the performance of Mufasa: The Lion King, a prequel to Disney’s The Lion King remake. Mufasa opened to a modest $35.4 million domestically but ultimately grossed over $717 million worldwide. Disney is likely hoping for a similar 'sleeper hit' success story with Snow White.

Amidst these developments, questions continue to swirl around the performance of Captain America: Brave New World, which has now earned $400.8 million globally after six weekends, with $192.1 million from domestic markets and $208.7 million internationally.

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