The epic disaster that was Disney’s live-action update of “Snow White” has become increasingly clear as the numbers now indicate what the flop cost the studio.
The 2025 re-telling of the classic fairytale kicked off in controversy after Rachel Zegler, who was cast in the title role, began spouting her mouth about the film’s theme and about political issues as well. It was downhill from there, with Disney’s attempts to drum up promotion for the film doing little to prevent the trainwreck at the box office.
“The film failed to cast a spell on audiences with worldwide takings of just $87.3 million in its opening weekend, 13% less than forecast. It went on to earn a total of just $205.7 million making it the fifth-lowest grossing of the 21 live action theatrical adaptations of Disney cartoons,” Forbes reported.
Disney lost $170 million on Snow White after massive boycott against ‘woke’ actress Rachel Zegler.
The film made the staggering loses after making just $205.7 million worldwide in theaters.
Fans slammed the casting of Zegler after she called Prince Charming a “stalker,”… pic.twitter.com/iTsteBLhtR
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) February 11, 2026
“You have to go all the way back to 1994’s The Jungle Book to find a Disney live action remake that had lower takings than Snow White and wasn’t released during a global crisis,” the outlet added, noting in the report how Disney ended up losing nearley $170 million with the film.
Analyzing Film Production Company (FPC) filings, the Forbes report noted how “Snow White was “forecasted to be over the production budget,” costing $336.5 million.
By July 31, 2022, Disney had “already spent a staggering $183.3 million on making Snow White even though principal photography had only just wrapped,” the report noted, adding that end-of-2024 figures showed $336.5 million had been spent.
Magic mirror on the wall, show us the story that started it all 🪞 Disney’s #SnowWhite is only in theaters March 21, 2025. pic.twitter.com/88u2KkyZh6
— Walt Disney Studios (@DisneyStudios) December 3, 2024
“The U.K. government also gave Snow White a magic touch as it reimbursed $64.9 million (£52.3 million) of the movie’s costs. This brought its net expenses down to $271.6 million but even that wasn’t enough to give it a happy ending in theaters,” Forbes reported, noting the “50-50 split which would give Disney just $102.9 million from Snow White yielding a $168.7 million loss at the box office after deducting the $271.6 million net spending on the movie.”
Some of the losses may be offset by future sales of DVD/Blu-ray and merchandising.
However you slice it, the doomed live-action “Snow White” was an epic fail for the House of Mouse, and social media users were not surprised.
Good. I hope they learned from this.
— toby neil (@Neil_No_Bull) February 11, 2026
Go woke, go broke.
— Abe Froman (@AbeFromanKing99) February 12, 2026
Disney’s Snow White flop is pure karma in action: they handed a $270 million budget to a talentless actress who openly despised the source material, trashed the prince as a creep, attacked half the audience politically, and now they’re bleeding $170 million because normal people…
— William Alves (@WilliamAlves) February 11, 2026
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.