What Hollywood Is Saying About Disney’s Snow White Crisis

by

As a movie critic, I can’t help but imagine the idyllic conclusion to Saturday’s premiere of Disney’s live-action Snow White adaptation unfolding like a scene straight out of a fairy tale. The grand El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood would be the backdrop for this spectacle, with fans erupting in screams and craning their necks for a glimpse of stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot. Reporters, stationed behind velvet ropes, would pepper the actresses with questions that are both frisky and innocuous. The paparazzi, a boisterous crowd, would surround the ladies in a flashing maelstrom of camera shutters. This whirlwind of excitement would serve as the ignition for the Entertainment Industry’s full-scale operation, propelling us towards a successful opening weekend for the $270 million musical-fantasy. Current pre-release estimates predict that the film will garner around $53 million during its domestic release on March 21st.

Similar to the Evil Queen from the fairy tale putting a curse on Snow White, Disney has recently decided to suspend grand events associated with their movies indefinitely, following a string of controversies surrounding the upcoming “Snow White” film since its announcement in 2021. The premiere for this movie will be scaled back significantly, with many media outlets worldwide being excluded from attending. The usual interviews and social media interactions that generate thousands of impressions will not take place. However, the main cast members, Zegler and Gadot, are expected to make brief statements only to a pre-selected Disney team who might avoid challenging questions.

On its own, a movie premiere doesn’t have the power to determine a film’s box office performance. However, as suggested by some rival studio executives and marketing professionals, premieres can offer hints about what lies ahead. Disney’s strict red-carpet policies, coupled with their unusual move of starting ticket sales for Snow White through online platforms like Fandango and Atom Tickets just 11 days before release, suggest a film in trouble. Typically, a movie with such iconic status and an enormous budget (including print and advertising costs amounting to $450 million) would have ticket sales kicking off at least a month prior. “That’s data,” says an executive from another major studio, implying that the late start of presales indicates concern about ticket sales being criticized as poor. Additionally, abandoning the red carpet seems to suggest they are distancing themselves from the movie. Given its budget, such behavior is quite unusual.

Indeed, few films have generated as much controversy upon release as Marc Webb’s modern adaptation of the 1937 classic movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The film has drawn criticism from various quarters. For instance, the casting of Zegler, a mixed-race Latina actress, as Snow White, despite her character being described as having “white skin” in the original animated film, sparked outrage over diversity issues in 2021. Peter Dinklage criticized the film for its perceived insensitivity towards people with dwarfism, particularly the storyline about seven dwarfs living in a cave. Zegler herself has characterized the original Snow White as outdated when it comes to women in positions of power and problematic due to its focus on a love story involving stalking. Furthermore, Zegler’s and Gadot’s contrasting views on the Israel-Hamas conflict have also caused controversy.

One challenging aspect for Disney’s promotional efforts was the strong reaction from then-23-year-old Zegler following President Trump’s election in November. In an Instagram post, she expressed her discontent with Trump, stating “May Trump supporters, Trump voters, and Trump himself never know peace.” She also wrote, “Fuck Donald Trump.” After Trump supporters responded on social media, some threatening to boycott the movie, Zegler quickly apologized. However, some executives from competing studios believe that Disney erred by casting the vocal Romeo + Juliet actress without controlling her more effectively. As one executive puts it, “The truth is Rachel Zegler should not be playing Snow White.

Disney’s production of “Snow White” is landing in theaters at a significant juncture for the corporation, as its latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film, “Captain America: Brave New World“, has fallen short financially and ranks among the lowest-grossing titles in the franchise’s history. Additionally, Disney recently postponed the release of their Pixar animated sci-fi adventure “Elio” by a week to avoid clashing with the debut of Universal/DreamWorks’ live-action adaptation of “How to Train Your Dragon“. Industry analysts are examining these events carefully, reminiscing about a time when every new Marvel release was an undisputed box office success and other studios adjusted their release dates around Pixar’s preferred slots – never the reverse. As one executive put it, “Disney has always been the studio that either won big or won huge. Now they’re not winning as much. They have hits sometimes, but not always. Their brand has taken a hit. They’re just like every other studio.

Read More

2025-03-15 00:54