Snow White is easily besting the competition at the box office. The live-action movie remakes Disney’s first-ever animated feature, starring Rachel Zegler in the title role opposite Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. While several of Disney’s live-action remakes are billion-dollar releases (including 2019’s The Lion King and Aladdin), the 2025 princess movie has struggled to maintain its middling projections. Its release is mired in controversy, especially surrounding the depiction of the character’s dwarf companions and the co-stars’ opposing views on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Additionally, Snow White reviews have been middling to negative, earning it a 44% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Per Deadline, as of Saturday morning, Snow White is projected to gross a 3-day total of $45.5 million at the domestic box office by the end of its opening weekend. This is more than enough for it to claim the No. 1 spot for the weekend, pulling significantly ahead of fellow new releases The Alto Knights ($3 million) and Magazine Dreams ($1 million). Its debut is roughly half of what 2023’s The Little Mermaid made in its opening weekend ($95.5 million) and just about matches the underwhelming debut of 2019’s Dumbo ($46 million).
What This Means For Snow White
It Is Comparing Negatively With Other Live-Action Remakes
Movies typically need to earn back two-and-a-half times their budgets, because theaters keep half of ticket sales and advertising costs are not factored into production budgets. Because the Snow White budget is reportedly between $240 and $270 million, this means that its break-even point is most likely $600 million or more. It could even be significantly higher, given its massive global marketing campaign. Given the precedent set by Disney’s previous live-action movies, that break-even point may ultimately prove unattainable. Below, see how it compares with every theatrically released Disney live-action remake that isn’t a sequel, prequel, or reimagining (like Maleficent):
| Title | Domestic Debut | Worldwide Box Office |
|---|---|---|
| 101 Dalmatians (1996) | $33.5 million | $136.2 million |
| Alice in Wonderland (2010) | $116.1 million | $1.025 billion |
| Cinderella (2015) | $67.9 million | $542.3 million |
| The Jungle Book (2016) | $103.3 million | $966.5 million |
| Beauty and the Beast (2017) | $174.7 million | $1.263 billion |
| Dumbo (2019) | $46 million | $353.3 million |
| Aladdin (2019) | $91.5 million | $1.051 billion |
| The Lion King (2019) | $191.8 million | $1.657 billion |
| Mulan (2020) | N/A | $69.96 million |
| The Little Mermaid (2023) | $95.5 million | $569.6 million |
| Snow White (2025) | $45.5 million | TBD |
Ultimately, the data does not spell very good news for Snow White, due to its inflated budget. The previous Disney live-action remakes that have grossed more than $600 million all had opening weekends of $90 million or more, a total that Snow White has fallen far short of during its domestic debut. Additionally, the diminishing returns of The Little Mermaid, which was also adapted from one of Disney’s iconic princess musicals, indicate that it may not have been able to hit that break-even point even if it had earned twice its current opening weekend projections.
Our Take On The Weekend Box Office
There Are Some Important Signs Of Overall Improvement
Even though Snow White may not turn a profit in theaters and is comparing unfavorably to its peers, its opening weekend is still significant in positive ways. For one thing, it is the second highest-grossing debut of the year so far, behind Captain America: Brave New World ($88.8 million). Additionally, its estimated gross is almost exactly equal to the cumulative domestic total earned by the entire Top 10 over the previous weekend ($45.49 million), which was the lowest-grossing weekend of the year. This at least indicates that theaters in general are recovering somewhat after a grim beginning to the month.
