Disney's live-action "Snow White," starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, has sparked many individuals worldwide to voice their opinions both for and against the film. Additionally, the film is suffering at the box office because of it. But will "Snow White" be able to survive her run-in with the poisonous apple of controversy?
Controversies around the film
To start, "Snow White" was immediately met with backlash after it was announced that Zegler, a woman of Colombian descent, would be playing the titular character, who is often described as being "white as snow." Things amped up further when Zegler, in a 2022 interview, expressed frustration towards the original film, which made its debut in 1937.
"[It has] a big focus on [Snow White's] love story with a guy who literally stalks her," Zegler said, also adding how "weird" it is. She also went on to criticize the original film for its "dated" representation of women, and was immediately met with criticism for her lack of respect for how monumental the original film was for the time.
The film was also met with criticism from individuals in the little people community. Famous "Game of Thrones" actor, Peter Dinklage, criticized the original story of "Snow White" for its representation of the little people community. As a response, Disney Studios decided to go with seven computer-generated dwarves instead of including seven aspiring actors from the little people community. Dylan Postl, an actor with dwarfism, voiced his opinion on the computer-generated dwarves.
"I can’t go for the Harrison Ford or George Clooney roles because that’s not for me. These dwarf roles are for people of my stature. Now think about the additional stunt actors or body doubles [who are "playing" the dwarves in the film], now you’re talking about multiple actors of my stature that don’t get these major roles," Postl said.
Many may be aware of the existing, and growing, conflict between Palestine and Israel. Zegler and Gadot have certainly made their opinions on the issue known, with their outspoken support for Palestine and Israel, respectively. Zegler has repeatedly posted on X in support of Palestine.
"It will always be free Palestine," Zegler wrote in one post. Another reads, "and always remember, free Palestine."
On the other side, Gadot, an Israeli actress, has frequently criticized the Palestinian organization, Hamas.
"I am sending my love and prayers to my fellow Israeli citizens. Especially to all the boys and girls who are risking their lives protecting my country against the horrific acts conducted by Hamas, who are hiding like cowards behind women and children," Gadot said in one statement.
For many viewers, these controversies cannot be separated from the film, leading to debates around whether to see the film in theaters.
Box office breakdown
It appears that the "Zegler vs. Gadot" battle doomed "Snow White" to crash and burn from the get-go, and the box office is surely showing the disastrous effects.
The film was reported to have a budget of around $270 million, though it should be noted that the film should have made approximately two and a half times that amount for the studio to not lose money. Doing the math, that would put the film at needing to make $675 million to break even. In its opening weekend, however, it grossed $42 million, and ticket sales dropped by 66% in its second weekend, leading to a worldwide total of only $168 million after the film had been out for three weekends.
For comparison, let us look at Disney's other live-action remakes. "Cinderella," which was released in March 2015, making it approximately the same time of year, grossed $132 million in its first weekend alone, while ticket sales dropped by 49% from the first to second weekend. And the film ended up grossing a worldwide total of $542 million against a budget of only $90 million.
Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," which was released in March 2017, grossed $174 million in its opening weekend. From the first weekend through the second weekend, ticket sales also dropped by 49%, and the film went on to gross over $1.2 billion against a budget of $250 million.
It looks like "Snow White" is a box office disaster, as the odds of making more money from this point on are very slim given that new films from other studios are continuing to be released every weekend, and word around the film remains controversial.
Opinions from students
With "Snow White" failing at the box office, some students were asked if they had an interest in seeing the film, and whether or not they had any comments on the controversies surrounding the film.
Rachel Tracey, a usually self-proclaimed hater of Disney, voices a mixed desire to see the film.
"I usually hate the live action remakes of anything, especially Disney, but with the ridiculous controversy surrounding Rachel Zegler, I'm inclined to support it just to piss off the racists," Tracey said. She goes on to voice a frustration with the people who are upset with Zegler's casting.
Tracey expressed that she wants to "go against the weirdos who are mad that a fake character isn't her original race," also pointing out that this is "something that has nothing to do with the storyline of the film."
Another Wright State student, Miranda Stidham, while unaware of many of the controversies around the film, expressed her thoughts on it.
"I've heard really negative things about the movie, which doesn't make me too eager to see it myself," Stidham says, though she also claims that she does not "want to blindly fall into hating it without knowing the full picture."
After being informed of the controversies, Stidham also voices some awareness that this film can be "extremely problematic" for some individuals.
Emily Merritt voices her support for both Zegler's and Gadot's castings.
"I have no problem with the fact that Rachel Zegler is playing Snow White. I think she's great casting. Same thing with Gal Gadot," Merritt said, while also commenting that Gadot is certainly beautiful enough to play a villain obsessed with being beautiful. Merritt, however, also said that she canceled plans to see it.
"I had initially made plans to see the movie, but after the movie's release, I started hearing lots of negative things about it," Merritt said. She also added her thoughts on the computer-generated dwarves.
"I no longer feel inclined to see it because of how they portrayed the dwarves. I wish they had casted real people with dwarfism," Merritt said.
It would appear that, like these three students, the world is not interested in Disney's latest live-action remake of a classic film. It seems that "Snow White" will just have to sleep forever, with a potential eventual success on Disney+ being the only hope of redemption.
