The struggles of Snow White has Disney changing course.
When the initial box office numbers came back on Disney’s latest film, I asked if it could signal the end of their run of live-action remakes. I assumed that would be a stretch, considering that the house Mickey Mouse built has been pumping out live action versions of their classic films since the late 1990s. The very first time Disney did so was with the Jungle Book in 1994. Since then, they’ve added 21 other films to their list of remakes, with the most successful being 2019’s The Lion King.
But according to reports, I was apparently right in asking if Disney would start pumping the brakes on live-action projects.
The latest entrant into the live action remake list is Disney’s controversial-from-the-get-go Snow White remake. It was originally supposed to hit theaters in March of 2024, and instead was pushed back to premiere last month. Disney blamed the delay on the SAG-AFTRA Strike in 2023… but many assume it’s actually because of the backlash and controversy that’s surrounded the film from the get-go, such as:
-The casting of Rachel Zegler, who openly criticized the original 1937 version of the film
-Opting to drop the word “dwarves” from the movie altogether, and choosing to go with CGI for the roles of the “magical creatures” instead of hiring real people with dwarfism
Those things – and online backlash before the film even really got going – led to a perfect storm (or not-so-perfect if you ask Disney) of people both hating the idea of the remake and vowing to not go to theaters to see it. Disney even scaled back the red-carpet premiere of the film in an attempt to draw less attention to it.
Which is odd, considering that Disney sank $270 million into the movie’s production budget, and then threw another $100 million out the window with Snow White marketing. When you’ve got that much moolah invested, you’d think you would do everything you can to get eyes on the finished product.
But like I stated before, it seems as though Disney knew this film would be taking a loss. So they likely weren’t surprised that the movie has only brought in $69 million domestically and $142 million globally. Opening weekend numbers were atrocious, and it’s only been made worse as the bad reviews (it’s the first Disney live action remake to receive less than an A-grade from the audience) have continued to pour in.
It also has a 1.6 out of 10 on IMDB… brutal.
Disney needed to make $500 million to break even on the production, and because projections are coming up far short of that half-a-billion mark, the next princess live-action remake is being shelved. Disney was already in pre-production for a live-action version of the 2010 animated film Tangled. However, insiders told The Hollywood Reporter that they are pressing pause on that movie after Snow White bombed at the box office.
A director and a script writer were already in place, and the studio was having meeting with potential stars when Disney decided to back off from their next live-action remake. I’d imagine they are going to see how their remake of Lilo & Stitch goes (releases in May of 2025) before they green light any other live-action projects.
For now though, the House of Mouse is in re-evaluation mode… all thanks to Snow White.
The post Disney Reportedly Pulls The Plug On ‘Tangled’ Live-Action Remake Following ‘Snow White’ Disaster first appeared on Whiskey Riff.