The new Disney live-action remake of Snow White has had a sluggish start at the box office, but analysis shows that despite being branded “Snow Woke” the film has performed proportionally better in states that vote Republican as compared to Democrat-leaning states.
The movie, which stars Rachel Zegler in the title role, is already being considered a box office bomb after making just $43 million over its opening weekend against an estimated production cost of $270 million.
Deadline reports that, according to analytics company EntTelligence, the film actually overperformed in red states. Because the majority of cinemas are in Democrat-supporting cities, family movies generally expect 63% of sales in Democrat areas and 37% in Republican areas. Snow White, however, posted 40% of ticket sales in red states.
The film’s lengthy production process has been beset by controversies, leaving a film intended to be crowd-pleasing labeled as one of the most unexpectedly divisive of the year.
The film initially drew the ire of right-wing commentators when it was announced that West Side Story star Zegler had been cast in the lead role. Critics claimed that Zegler, who is Latina, should not play a character who is referred to as having “skin as white as snow.”
Zegler further provoked traditionalists by arguing the plot needed to be updated as, in the original film, Prince Charming “literally stalks her.”
“It’s no longer 1937,” Zegler added. “She’s not going to be saved by the prince, and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love. She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be.”
In a 2023 discussion with Halle Bailey, who herself received similar backlash over the color of her skin when she was cast in 2023’s The Little Mermaid, Zegler said she was “thankful” for the resistance to her casting because those moments “make me feel like solid Teflon.”
Speaking to Variety in 2024, Zegler explained that the new film has a different origin story for the character’s name than the 1937 cartoon. “It fell back to another version of Snow White that was told in history, where she survived a snowstorm that occurred when she was a baby,” said Zegler. “And so the king and queen decided to name her Snow White to remind her of her resilience.”
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However, a perceived double standard was called out by Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage, who, in 2022, called the idea of remaking Snow White “f***ing backwards.”
Disney responded to Dinklage’s comments, saying: “To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community.”
As the Snow White release date approached, further controversy erupted over the contrasting political allegiances of the film’s lead actors. Israeli actor Gal Gadot, who plays the evil queen in the new movie, has been an outspoken supporter of Israel during its war in Gaza.
Zegler, meanwhile, is a passionate defender of Palestinian causes. She was also criticized by Donald Trump supporters for her reaction to the US president’s re-election when she posted on Instagram about “four years of hatred” he would bring about in America. She later apologized for “contributing to negative discourse”
It was widely reported that behind-the-scenes political tensions as well as the film’s other controversies were behind Disney’s decision to scale back the Hollywood premiere. According to Variety, the March 15 premiere, which would typically have included a large-scale red-carpet event with multiple media outlets invited to interview the stars, was reportedly reduced to only photographers and in-house crew.
Nevertheless, Zegler and Gadot appeared all smiles as they were photographed side-by-side at the premiere along with the remake’s director Marc Platt.
Critics failed to be impressed, however, with The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey handing out a one-star review and arguing that “Zegler deserves better than the lazy, visually repellent Snow White.”
