Disney’s live-action remake of the 1937 animated classic SNOW WHITE won the weekend with $43.0M in its opening, pushing the box office for all movies to $77M. While this was an uptick from the last three weekends when the box office hovered in the $50M range, it was still far below last year’s $103.7M on weekend #12, led by Sony’s GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE with a $45.0M opening.
In fact, the last four weekends have come in lower than their matching weekends in 2024, and the unfortunate streak will almost certainly continue next weekend when the second weekend of SNOW WHITE will once again be the top-grossing movie, matched up against last year’s GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE which opened to a mighty $87.7M and all films on that Easter weekend reached $137.2M. This year’s Easter weekend comes much later, from April 18-20.
Despite SNOW WHITE winning an easy victory, it has struggled to overcome a series of unfortunate mishaps and controversies. Filming had originally been scheduled to start in March 2020, but that was put on hold by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. And shortly after it did begin in March 2022, a fire broke out on its set at Pinewood Studios, causing additional delays. It took more than two years to complete the work, wrapping up in June 2024.
In addition, a perfect storm of other negative factors cropped up, including bad press promoted by controversial, political statements made by its stars, a leak of disparaging comments from the actors on the project, and creative risks taken with the story that included a reimagining of the role of the seven dwarfs. This drama is unusual for a major Disney production. On the bright side, it’s a credit to the appeal of the Snow White character and Walt Disney Studios itself that the movie was able to do as well as it did.
The remake was directed by Marc Webb who also directed the supremely successful reboot of the Spider-man franchise with THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN in 2012 and THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 in 2014. The lead role of Snow White is played by Rachel Zegler, who was praised for her role as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s musical film adaptation of WEST SIDE STORY in 2021.
In fact, Spielberg himself recommended Ziegler for the role of Snow White. The Evil Queen is played by Gal Gadot, best known for playing the superhero heroine Diana Prince in WONDER WOMAN (2017) and WONDER WOMAN 1984 (2020). Gadot has said about SNOW WHITE that she enjoyed being able to play a villain because it was a refreshing change of pace from her earlier heroic roles.
The storyline of the new movie has been adjusted to be in sync with societal changes since the original 1937 version. For instance, the romantic storyline involving Prince Charming is downplayed to portray Snow White as a more self-assured independent woman. The music, which is always an important part of a Disney movie, was created by the duo of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, also behind the award-winning scores to LA LA LAND from 2016 and THE GREATEST SHOWMAN from 2017.
Many reviews have piled on with the negativity surrounding the film, giving a low 43% score on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences have been considerably more positive with a 74% rating. Zegler’s portrayal of Snow White has been praised by some as the best part of the movie, with Variety calling her performance a “shining supernova,” and also commending the musical numbers and visual appeal. Similarly, Skyler Shuler from The DisInsider lauded the movie as “PURE DISNEY MAGIC,” emphasizing Zegler’s captivating performance.
Entertainment Weekly labelled it Disney’s best live-action remake, with praise for Zegler’s performance and the musical elements. However, The Guardian found the movie “exhaustingly awful,” criticizing its “tiresome pseudo-progressive additions” and lackluster performances.
Forbes found the film visually appealing but questioned whether the updates to the classic story were either necessary or effective. Business Insider noted that the CGI dwarfs were “unsettling and not well-received,” making parts of the film visually awkward. Finally, the BBC criticized its cluttered storytelling, muddled tone, and off-kilter pacing, arguing that the film struggled with its identity.
The numerous stops and starts while making the film caused its production budget to balloon to $270M, which will make it exceedingly difficult to be profitable, needing $675M in worldwide ticket sales to get there. Other than Zegler’s strong performance, another factor working to its advantage is the tendency for Disney family films to hold onto a strong box office over many weeks.
A recent example is MUFASA: THE LION KING, which opened with $35.4M in the weekend of December 20-22, 202,4, and 14 weeks later is still playing in 840 theatres, having earned $253.0M domestic and $717.1M worldwide. Here is how those two films stack up against each other.
SNOW WHITE vs. MUFASA: THE LION KING
- SNOW WHITE (3/21/2025) – Domestic Opening $43M (4,200 locations), Budget $270M, RT Critics/Audience 43%/74%
- MUFASA: THE LION KING (12/20/2024) – Domestic Opening $35.4M (4,100 locations), Domestic Total $253.0M, Worldwide Total $717.1M, Budget $200M, RT Critics/Audience 57%/89%
Focus Features’ spy thriller BLACK BAG finished in second place this weekend with $4.4M, a drop of 42% from its opening last weekend. After 10 days, its domestic total has reached $ 14.9 M. The Steven Soderbergh-directed film is less of an action movie than a thinking man’s film.
Its greatest appeal is with an older audience, who are somewhat less likely to rush out to see a movie in its opening weekend. After earning $7.5M in its first three days, it will have to hold up well over time to gross its estimated production budget of $ 60 M.
Disney and Marvel’s CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD finished in third place in its sixth weekend with an additional $4.1M, a decline of only 28% from last weekend. Its 38-day total stands at $192.1M domestic and $400.8M worldwide. Here is how this film compares to the three previous movies in the CAPTAIN AMERICA franchise.
CAPTAIN AMERICA Movies after 38 Days
- CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (7/22/2011) – Domestic Opening $65.1M (3,715 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $25.6M (-61%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $13.0M (-49%), Domestic 4th Weekend $7.2M (-45%), Domestic 5th Weekend $4.1M (-43%), Domestic 6th Weekend $2.2M (-45%), Domestic 38-Day $168.8M, Domestic Total $176.7M, Worldwide Total $370.6M, Budget $140M, RT Critics/Audience 80%/75%
- CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (4/4/2014) – Domestic Opening $95.0M (3,938 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $41.3M (-57%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $25.6M (-38%), Domestic 4th Weekend $16.2M (-37%), Domestic 5th Weekend $7.8M (-52%), Domestic 6th Weekend $5.8M (-25%), Domestic 38-Day $237.2M, Domestic Total $259.8M, Worldwide Total $714.4M, Budget $170M, RT Critics/Audience 90%/92%
- CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (5/6/2016) – Domestic Opening $179.1M (4,226 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $72.6M (-60%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $32.9M (-55%), Domestic 4th Weekend $15.4M (-53%), Domestic 5th Weekend $7.8M (-50%), Domestic 6th Weekend $4.3M (-45%), Domestic 38-Day $396.9M, Domestic Total $408.1M, Worldwide Total $1,153M, Budget $250M, RT Critics/Audience 90%/89%
- CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (2/14/2025) – Domestic Opening $88.5M (4,105 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $28.2M (-68%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $15.0M (-47%), Domestic 4th Weekend $8.5M (-43%), Domestic 5th Weekend $5.5M (-35%), Domestic 6th Weekend $4.1M (-28%), Domestic 38-Day $192.1M, Budget $180M, RT Critics/Audience 49%/79%
BRAVE NEW WORLD will wind up with approximately $415M in worldwide sales, slightly below the $450M it would take to be profitable on box office receipts. This is somewhat concerning for Disney, considering that CAPTAIN AMERICA has until now been a very profitable sub-franchise within the MCU.
Warner Bros..’ dark sci-fi comedy MICKEY 17 finished fourth with $3.9M in its third weekend, a drop of 48% from its second weekend. After 17 days, the Bong Joon-ho-directed movie has grossed $40.2M domestic and $110.0M worldwide. Here is an updated comparison between MICKEY 17 and PARASITE, the director’s other breakout movie from 2019.
MICKEY 17 vs. PARASITE after 17 Days
- MICKEY 17 (3/7/2025) – Domestic Opening $19.0M (3,807), Domestic 2nd Weekend $7.5M (-60%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $3.9M (-48%), Domestic 17-Day $40.2M, Budget $118M, RT Critics/Audience 78%/73%
- PARASITE (10/11/2019) – Domestic Opening $393K (3), Domestic 2nd Weekend $1.2M (+207%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $1.8M (+51%), Domestic 17-Day $4.1M, Domestic Total $53.4M, Worldwide Total $258.1M, Budget $11.4M, RT Critics/Audience 99%/95%
Because of PARASITE’s gradual expansion over time, it was playing in only 129 theatres in its third weekend. MICKEY 17, on the other hand, has followed a wide initial release, and therefore is playing in many more locations and is generating a larger box office by comparison. However, PARASITE continued to add new theatres over time, taking an amazing 19 weeks to reach its widest distribution of 2,001 locations.
MICKEY 17 has already lost 1,232 initial batch of locations and will lose more next weekend. As a result, we expect that the box office fortunes of the two films will cross over at some point in the next few weeks. Another substantial difference between the two films is the relatively poor performance of MICKEY 17 in international markets, where it has grossed 63% of its total compared to PARASITE’s 80% take from outside North America. MICKEY 17 will need a total worldwide gross of $295M to be profitable and has only earned $110.0M after its first three weekends and two full weeks.
Paramount’s action-comedy NOVOCAINE finished in fifth place with a second weekend total of $3.8M, a steep drop of 57%. This brings its 10-day totals to $15.8M domestic and $21.1M worldwide. The film has received positive reviews from both critics and audiences, with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 82% and 88% respectively.
While its backers would like it to hold on to most of its current locations for a few more weeks, this could be a difficult sell after it dropped from first to fifth place so quickly. However, co-directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen spent only $18M to make the movie so it would be profitable with earns only $45M in worldwide sales.
Where Are We as of 3/20/2025
After the 11th week of 2025, the domestic box office stands at 94% compared to 2024 and 60% compared to 2019.