Disney's woke Snow White ‘heading for $115m loss'
Disney's 'woke' Snow White remake is heading for a $115 million loss, according to reports.
It comes after the controversy-laden film, starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, faced one of the entertainment giant's most unsuccessful box office opening weekends for a live-action remake.
According to Hollywood industry news website Deadline, Snow White is headed to an estimated loss of $115 million (£89 million) based on its final worldwide box office of $225 million (£174 million).
The embattled film, produced by Wicked's Marc Platt, cost the studio upwards of £207 million to make, excluding post-production marketing, which can typically double the number.
Snow White is predicted to gross just $100 million at the domestic box office, making it less successful than 2019's Dumbo remake, which was widely considered a flop.
The film has been beset by controversy for years, including being billed by star Zegler as 'a politically correct' and feminist remake of the popular 1937 fairytale animation, as well as facing criticism for its CGI depiction of the seven dwarves.
Zegler was also publicly criticised by Jonah Platt, the lead producer's son, for her outspoken political social media posts throughout the movie's PR run, including pro-Palestine tweets and anti-Trump posts saying she hoped the US president and his supporters 'never know peace'.
In a since-deleted Instagram comment, he blasted Zegler for 'dragging her personal politics into the middle of promoting the movie for which she signed a multi-million dollar contract to get paid and do publicity for'.
Jonah Platt added that the 23-year-old actress 'hijacked the conversation for her own immature desires', saying that 'narcissism is not something to be coddled or encouraged'.
Zegler's outspoken political posts, which included tagging on a 'free Palestine' tweet onto her promotion of the film's trailer, 'clearly hurt the film's box office', he said.
He confirmed that his father flew 'across the country' to 'reprimand' Zegler after the post caused a 'severe rift' with Israeli star Gadot, who plays the Evil Queen.
The remake, released in cinemas on March 21, was meant to be an easy win for the studio after the success of other live-action remakes, including 2010's Alice in Wonderland, 2016's The Jungle Book and 2017's Beauty and the Beast, which all surpassed a billion dollars at the box office.
However, the film – directed by 500 Days of Summer's Marc Webb with songs written by Oscar-winning songwriting duo Pasek and Paul – has instead faced a flop in theatres in its first two weekends.
Deadline's forecast of the financial hit to the studio is calculated from costs including $410 million in feature expenses comprising the hefty production price tag – one that was overblown because of Hollywood strike delays and a fire on the UK set – as well as an estimated $111 million in global marketing costs as well as other expenses.
It suggests the film will clear $295 million in revenues, but this does not include proceeds from viewership once Snow White hits Disney+.
Issues with the PR campaign became so severe that the studio took the unusual step of scaling back its world premiere in Hollywood last month by curtailing red carpet interviews and not inviting external media outlets to speak to stars.
After the scaled-back premiere in Los Angeles, Marc Platt said Disney's job 'is to delight' as he expressed hope that 'all the noise' surrounding the remake would fade away once people watched it.
However, the film has received a critical reception from reviewers since its release and currently has dismal rankings on the two largest movie rating platforms, including an IMDb ranking of 1.5 out of 10 and 40 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.
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