‘Snow White’ Is Lost in the Mines After Passing First Global Box Office Milestone

After a disappointing first week in theaters worldwide, Disney’s mega-budget Snow White remake finally passed its first global box office milestone this weekend. But the film’s massive production costs are coming in the way of its success. Coupled with all the bad press that it has been facing in recent weeks, Snow White is already being written off as a massive misfire for the Mouse House. Snow White debuted with just over $40 million in its first weekend domestically but fell by nearly 70% in its sophomore frame, confirming Disney’s worst fears: it has no chance of staging a comeback.

With around $65 million domestically and another $76 million from overseas markets, the film’s cumulative global haul now stands at $143 million. This is around half of its reported $250 million-plus production costs. Going by the rule of thumb, the film would need to gross at least $500 million worldwide to break even, but this seems like a fantasy at this stage in its run. Snow White might even struggle to match the low bar set by fellow Disney remake Dumbo, which concluded its theatrical run with a little over $110 million domestically and a hair more than $350 million worldwide.

At the pinnacle of this remake wave are films such as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Alice in Wonderland, each of which was able to pass the coveted $1 billion mark at the global box office. More recently, Mufasa: The Lion King bounced back after a disappointing debut to generate over $700 million worldwide. While this was only around half as much as its predecessor grossed globally, it was still a good enough result for Mufasa to qualify as a hit. A year before that, The Little Mermaid remake generated over $550 million worldwide against a reported budget of $240 million. Like Snow White, The Little Mermaid also debuted amid a raging controversy.

‘Snow White’s Reviews Are Mirroring Its Box Office

Much has been said already about stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, who’ve been at the forefront of the blowback that Snow White has been facing. The movie opened to mediocre reviews and currently holds a fast-declining 41% rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, although its audience score stands at a better 74%. In his review, Collider’s Ross Bonaime praised Zegler’s performance but criticized Gadot’s turn as the Evil Queen.

You can watch Snow White in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.