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“The Worst Of The Worst”: Snow White Crashes And Burns With Opening Weekend Disaster
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“The Worst Of The Worst”: Snow White Crashes And Burns With Opening Weekend Disaster

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Disney’s newest ‘woke’ Snow White film has hit theatres — and subsequently plummeted to the floor.

The live-action princess movie released worldwide on Friday, March 21, and box office figures are shaping it up to be one of the franchise’s worst-performing movies in recent years.

In Thursday previews, it only made approximately $3.5 million and is projected to earn $45 to $55 million during its opening weekend. Not to mention, the film itself cost over $250 million to make, excluding those targeted to marketing.

Highlights
  • Disney's 'woke' Snow White film has seemingly flopped, earning only $3.5M in previews.
  • The project is predicted to earn $45-55M during opening weekend, but cost over $250M to make.
  • Critics point out Disney's 'woke' agenda — leading to its poor reception.
RELATED:

    Disney’s ‘woke’ Snow White is turning out to be a disappointing movie, in terms of the box office

    Image credits: Disney

    To compare, Disney’s Little Mermaid remake, which was considered a box office disappointment in light of other live-action adaptions, made $95 million during its opening. 2019’s Dumbo made $2.6 million in previews, but only cost $170 million to make. 

    So why is it flopping so badly? There seem to be a multitude of reasons.

    The most glaring of problems lies with Disney’s ‘woke’ agenda that they’ve been trying to shove onto the film.

    A review by Daily Mail’s Brian Viner stated it was nothing more than “a painfully muddle-headed affair” after giving the film only two stars.

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    Image credits: Disney

    “Disney’s contorted attempts not to offend anyone have somehow managed to offend everyone,” he wrote, also bringing up how bizarre of a choice it was to use computer-generated imagery to make the dwarves instead of employing actual actors with dwarfism or a similar medical condition.

    The Times of London also didn’t hold back in giving their honest review: “Believe the anti-hype. It’s that bad,” they warned viewers.

    “It represents a new low for cultural desecration and for a venerable 102-year-old entertainment company that now looks at its source material with a pinched nose of disgust.”

    After its worldwide release just yesterday, critics haven’t been hesitating in slamming the live-action film

    Image credits: rachelzegler

    Another critic from the New York Post slammed, “The timeless classic, a groundbreaking achievement for animation, has been turned into another pointless and awkward live-action automaton that vanishes from your mind the second it’s over.”

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    One review from Vulture read, “It’s garishly ugly and padded out with new tunes from Pasek and Paul that are as smooth and unremarkable as river rocks, all of which may or may not matter to its target audience, who could just be bashing their decision about whether to see the movie on how unacceptably woke social media has informed them it is.”

    Image credits: Disney

    Image credits: Disney

    Indeed, during the months and weeks leading up to the film’s release, Rachel Zegler, who plays the titular character, has made it clear that Snow White won’t be the typical longing girl who dreams of true love.

    Instead, she’ll be a princess who wishes to be an independent “fearless leader,” finding strength within herself. 

    “The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so,” she told Extra TV in an interview from 2022. “There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird. So we didn’t do that this time.”

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    It is projected to make around $44 to $55 million for its opening weekend

     

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    A post shared by rachel zegler (@rachelzegler)

    For many people, they were upset with this new ‘woke’ view, afraid it would take away from the quirks and personalities that made Snow White… Snow White. 

    “Not every girl wants to be a leader. Plenty of girls want to find love,” one person said. “That’s perfectly healthy.”

    Image credits: rachelzegler

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    Jo, an avid movie lover from Vancouver, BC, told Bored Panda, “I empathize if Disney GAVE [Rachel Zegler] the direction to express to admittedly ‘woke’ agenda, but even as a very liberal woman, I am offput by just how hard Disney is shoving their message of ‘female empowerment’ and ‘re-telling a problematic story for a modern audience.’

    “Disney, if you truly cared about expressing the diversity of your modern audience, you wouldn’t need to be shouting from the rooftops of knocking door to door to tell everyone. Your work would speak for itself, especially to those for whom it matters most.”

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    In response, many have decided to take this movie off their to-watch list.

    Rumors have also been circulating around social media that Zegler and her co-star Gal Gadot, who plays the villainous Evil Queen, don’t get along with one another, given their contrasting views over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — another reason why some are boycotting the film. 

    A source told People the two “have nothing in common,” and added, “On top of that, their political views differ, adding to the tension.”

    And its not just the critics — those on social media have made it clear how uninterested they are in seeing the film

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    People Also Ask
    • What additional issues surround the new Snow White film?

      In 2021, there was backlash against Disney for casting a Latina actress, Rachel Zegler, as Snow White, leading to the phrase "Snow Woke" that was trending online for some time.

    • Why is Disney engaging in live-action remakes?

      Disney produces live-action remakes due to an existing audience willing to watch these films, which also saves on production and writing time. These remakes are speculated to be a strategy for Disney to address and possibly rewrite its past historical and cultural decisions.

    Ic_polls

    Poll Question

    What is your opinion on Disney's approach to Snow White's character as an independent leader?

    It's a positive change

    It's an unnecessary alteration and strays too much from the original

    Neutral

    No opinion

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    Michelle Tian

    Michelle Tian

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

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    Hi, there! I'm a newswriter at Bored Panda, born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. I have a bachelor's degree in journalism from Boston University, as well as a philosophy minor. A few of my other hobbies include dancing, reading, cooking, or listening to a true crime podcast. My favourite thing to report on includes groundbreaking news in the field of science — particularly marine biology! I definitely didn't do well very well studying it in school, but being a journalist lets me live out those dreams in a different and exciting way!

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    Michelle Tian

    Michelle Tian

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Hi, there! I'm a newswriter at Bored Panda, born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. I have a bachelor's degree in journalism from Boston University, as well as a philosophy minor. A few of my other hobbies include dancing, reading, cooking, or listening to a true crime podcast. My favourite thing to report on includes groundbreaking news in the field of science — particularly marine biology! I definitely didn't do well very well studying it in school, but being a journalist lets me live out those dreams in a different and exciting way!

    Renan Duarte

    Renan Duarte

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    This lazy panda forgot to write something about itself.

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    Renan Duarte

    Renan Duarte

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    This lazy panda forgot to write something about itself.

    What do you think ?
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    POST
    Peter Bear
    Community Member
    3 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It has nothing to do with being 'woke'. It has everything to do with being unnecessary and just... badly executed.

    LakotaWolf (she/her)
    Community Member
    3 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I think they're saying it's "woke" because Snow White was described as "skin as white as snow" (hence, y'know, her name) in the original fable, and they cast a POC in the live action. (I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with the casting choices, just explaining why people might think it's "woke".) And instead of casting actual little people as the seven dwarves, they just CGed in some dwarven monstrosities. (Yes, "dwarf" is a derogatory and inappropriate term for little people IRL, but I think if they spoke with actors who are little people, they may have been fine with being cast as "fantasy-race" dwarves. Plus, it would give disadvantaged actors - those with disabilities or other physical issues - more screen time, which is good.)

    Load More Replies...
    Upstaged75
    Community Member
    2 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm going to punch the next person who uses the word "woke" to mean anything except a transition from sleeping.

    Beak Hookage
    Community Member
    3 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I couldn't possibly care less about who they cast in this thing. I hate it on principle because it's another g*****n live-action remake. And if they want to make their movies more diverse, ADAPT MORE NON-EUROPEAN FAIRYTALES. It's not that freaking hard!

    Load More Comments
    Peter Bear
    Community Member
    3 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It has nothing to do with being 'woke'. It has everything to do with being unnecessary and just... badly executed.

    LakotaWolf (she/her)
    Community Member
    3 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I think they're saying it's "woke" because Snow White was described as "skin as white as snow" (hence, y'know, her name) in the original fable, and they cast a POC in the live action. (I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with the casting choices, just explaining why people might think it's "woke".) And instead of casting actual little people as the seven dwarves, they just CGed in some dwarven monstrosities. (Yes, "dwarf" is a derogatory and inappropriate term for little people IRL, but I think if they spoke with actors who are little people, they may have been fine with being cast as "fantasy-race" dwarves. Plus, it would give disadvantaged actors - those with disabilities or other physical issues - more screen time, which is good.)

    Load More Replies...
    Upstaged75
    Community Member
    2 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm going to punch the next person who uses the word "woke" to mean anything except a transition from sleeping.

    Beak Hookage
    Community Member
    3 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I couldn't possibly care less about who they cast in this thing. I hate it on principle because it's another g*****n live-action remake. And if they want to make their movies more diverse, ADAPT MORE NON-EUROPEAN FAIRYTALES. It's not that freaking hard!

    Load More Comments
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