By Andrew Miller
Disney’s Snow White (2025) flopped at the box office with weak performances, a forced narrative, and controversial behind-the-scenes drama, ultimately tarnishing the legacy of the beloved original.
Disney’s latest live-action remake, Snow White, arrived with wild controversies and immense backlash. With so much drama, was a box office flop inevitable?
With an IMDb rating of 1.5/10 and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 41%, Snow White made no big splash at the box office over its opening weekend.
Why does Disney keep making these movies? Whatever the reason, it’s not for audiences, and this film proves that Disney has completely lost touch with what people want to see.
The film comes across as having little to no character and is weighed down by uninspired, auto-tuned music. Rachel Zegler, the film’s star, has an amazing voice, but she is overproduced, making her performance feel stale and inauthentic.
Despite this, Zegler was the strongest part of the movie. She embodied the grace and attitude of a Disney princess. It’s a shame Disney wasted her talent, as she could have thrived in an original project rather than a remake.
Zegler and her co-star Gal Gadot found themselves at the center of controversy before the film even hit theaters.
At the D23 Expo, a Disney-run promotional event, their remarks about the film’s direction sparked backlash. Zegler’s comment about Snow White’s role change resonated with fans.
“She’s not going to be saved by the Prince. She’s not going to be dreaming about true love,” Zegler said. “She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be.”
Sophia Hazelton, a freshman musical theater major at The University of Tampa, said that comments like these rubbed her the wrong way before even seeing it in theaters.
“They didn’t have to steer away from the idea of being saved by a prince; that isn’t as woke as they think it is,” said Hazelton. “It makes it seem like love makes a woman weak.”
Many agreed with Hazelton, and this sentiment grew stronger as the film’s release drew near. In theaters, the attempt to modernize the story didn’t resonate well, leaving the audience with a narrative that felt forced and out of place.
In a way, it’s as if Disney wanted to tell a completely new story but was constrained by the original Snow White plot.
The film felt disjointed by the iconic poisoned apple scene, which should have been the climax but came across more as a second-act turning point. What followed was a drawn-out, unnecessary finale, making it seem like there were two endings — neither of which worked.
Madison Bacani, a freshman musical theater major at UTampa, sums up the experience perfectly.
“I think that in their attempt to be different, they caused more harm than good,” said Bacani.
Beyond the film’s on-screen struggles, external controversies also contributed to its downfall. The ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine played a role in shaping the film’s reception due to Gadot’s and Zegler’s contrasting political stances.
Gal Gadot, an Israeli actress and former Miss Israel (2004), has been openly pro-Israel, which has sparked polarizing reactions.
On the other hand, Rachel Zegler has been vocal about her pro-Palestinian views, even airing her frustrations on social media around those pro-Israel. She continued her rant and targeted those who voted for Donald Trump.
“May Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace,” Zegler said.
The stark political differences between the actresses set the stage for an uneasy dynamic both on and off-screen. Oliver Paul, a freshman musical theater major at UTampa, noticed the lack of chemistry between the two leads during the film.
“In Rachel Zegler’s other films, she usually has great on-screen chemistry with her co-stars — she’s a very good actress,” Paul said. “But in Snow White, it felt like there was no real chemistry between the two.”
Disney’s Snow White failed as both a retelling and a faithful adaptation, losing the magic that made the original so iconic. It’s a shame, considering the original was Disney’s first-ever animated feature — the one that started it all.
Unfortunately, the studio tarnished that legacy with sloppy decisions, and the dysfunctional relationships between the cast and audiences only added to the film’s downfall.
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Photo courtesy of Andrew Miller.