Not Snowy Or Showy: Weak Domestic Opening For 'Snow White'
- by Wayne Friedman , March 23, 2025
In a rough start to the pre-summer theatrical season, Walt Disney’s highly anticipated live-action remake of "Snow White" underdelivered -- pulling in $43 million domestically and $87.3 million worldwide on its opening weekend, according to Comscore.
Industry estimates were expecting it to exceed $100 million globally. The budget on the film is estimated to be $250 million.
One key marketing indicator shows Disney placed one of the biggest pre-opening national TV advertising schedules for a wide-release movie so far this year -- with 4,460 airings producing 3.1 billion impressions and $11.8 million in paid and promotion advertising, according to EDO Ad EnGage.
A major piece of the schedule was put on the Disney Channel with 1,300 airings.
The “Snow White” campaign was exceeded only by Disney’s “Captain America: Brave New World” (with 4,870 airings, 2.8 billion impressions, and $22.7 million in spend).
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Disney will need to find some staying power, as it did at Christmas time with “Mufasa: The Lion King” which had a slow start with a $35 million opening., but went on to steadily pass $700 million globally.
“Snow White” is a rare reinvention of a foundational Disney character and storyline in a live-action movie. The original animated “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" debuted in theaters in 1937.
Although it wasn’t expected to come anywhere near “Snow White,” Warner Bros.' “The Alto Knights” -- another wide release (2,651 locations) starring Robert DeNiro about two notorious New York City mafia crime bosses, Frank Costello and Vito Genovese -- was only able to muster $3.2 million in its weekend opening.
For 2025 year-to-date (January 1 through March 23) domestic theatrical box office revenues are down 7% to $1.34 billion, Comscore says.
Though just about three months of 2025, national TV ad spend is down 14% to $209 million ($242.7 million in 2024) -- with 45,280 airings, and 26.4 billion impressions, says EDO Ad EnGage.
The catastrophic bomb CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD has barely crept past $400 million worldwide; it will lose Disney Marvel hundreds of millions of dollars, as well as further damage the previously unassailable Marvel brand. But SNOW WHITE may lose even more money.
The tipping point has been reached. Disney has inverted its hold on popular culture from FOMO to JOMO. Despite good reviews, no one is watching Disney Marvel's DAREDEVIL on Disney+, which has the rat kingdom terrified. The long-delayed dud IRONHEART is up next up for Marvel on Disney+, delayed nearly three years now, amid word on the street that it is the absolute worst "re-imagining" yet of a race-and-gender swapped popular hero, terribly written and full of lecturing nd hectoring, practically unwatchably bad, with yet another charisma-free DEI "star."
Imagine how incompetent you have to be to destroy TWO golden geese: MARVEL and STAR WARS. They used to print money. Now it's Billions and Billions burned on the alter of Woke anti-American socialist ideology, rejected by the vast majority of good Americans, extolled only by the brainwashed typing minions still slogging away in the controlled corrupt collectivist corporoate criminal clown media. Disney is Toxic. It is soul cancer upon the human condition.
Captain America Brave New World did quite well at the big office with $100Million in it's first weekend and has made a profit for Disney it didn't bomb. Disney will always be a billion dollar company even if a few movies don't do well and lose some money it's just pocket change plus Disney has the theme parks all over the world. Disney is doing just fine and is 100% family friendly.
Disney+ makes a lot of money has made a lot of profit for Mickey's empire and Disney will be here forever along with it's content it isn't going away and Daredevil has done well on Disney+ wlll get a season 2. Disney is very popular in popular culture people haven't turned away from Mickey.
Oops box office. As for Snow White not surprised that it didn't do well I had it in the $45 to $50 million range for week 1 at the box office I think it will drop now and not make money for Disney maybe in 5 years now it becomes a cult classic I'm not going to see Snow White. Disney still makes billion of dollars and Mickey will out live us all LOL.