If you are looking for a queue in front Snow Whiteyou will undoubtedly be more likely to find it in front of the attraction of the same name in Disneyland Paris than in front of the doors of a cinema. As many observers had anticipated it, the last remake in real Disney shots signed a very timid start in the United States.
Released on March 21, without real competition in front of it, the film only garnered $ 42.2 million during its first operating weekend, well below the most pessimistic forecasts (which were tabling on 45 million), for a considerable budget estimated at 270 million, not to mention some 100 million marketing expenses. This slow launch classifies the film in tenth place in the fourteen Disney live action remakes released in the cinema since 2010, behind Dumbo (2019), but slightly above MUFASA: The Lion Kingreleased last December – a separate case, since he finished his race with more than $ 719 million in global revenue. Not sure that Snow White follow the same path. According to forecasts, the feature film should experience a fall of 53 % or more of its revenue at the American box office compared to its opening weekend. Internationally too, performance is disappointing.
The film, described as “too woke” by certain American conservative commentators, already accumulated controversies well before its release. Starting with Rachel Zegler, the main actress of Colombian origin, judged by some not “pale” enough to embody a heroine described in the original tale like having “white skin like snow”. In this version, her name no longer comes from her complexion, but … from a snowstorm that she would have braved baby. Another sensitive subject: the seven dwarfs. The actor Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), suffering from nanism, had denounced the very idea of representing dwarfs living together in a cave. Too degrading according to him. Exit therefore the small human actors. Nanism in 2025 will be embodied by synthetic images. The seven dwarfs become the seven “magic creatures”. Even the nasty queen did not escape the controversy: Gal Gadot, who interpreted it, angered pro-Palestinian activists because of her public positions on the conflict to the Middle East. At this level, the chaotic output ofEmilia Pérez would almost pass for a health walk.
Snow White Victim of his supposed wokism? “Go Woke, Go Broke” (“become Woke, go bankrupt”), are used to saying the American conservative circles. Yet the explanation for this announced sinking is perhaps elsewhere. Starting with the overdose of Disney remake. Since 2010, the studio has produced nineteen (some of which directly for Disney+), and five others are in preparation. For a mixed assessment: only seven were a real commercial success. The winning trio? The Lion King (2019), Beauty and the beast (2017) and Aladdin (2019), inspired by the greatest Disney successes of the 1990s (excluding Pixar), the golden age of the studio. In contrast, critical failures and commercial disappointments are increasing: Dumbo,, Cruella,, Mulan,, Maleficent 2,, Jean-Christophe and Winnie etc. As with Marvel, the Disney recipe seems to have pulled too much on the rope … even Mufasawith its $ 719.4 million in revenue, is half as well as its predecessor.
A more than aid artistic failure?
Another strategic error: having bet on a somewhat wise remake of a film released… 88 years ago. “Snow White has not aged very well. History itself is a little outdated and certainly does not have the heroic factor of a Moana or the snow queen. It is these types of Disney stories that attract the current public. The expiration date of Snow White has passed for decades, unfortunately“, Esides Jeff Bock, analyst of the company specializing in the Box-Office Exhibitor Relations, interviewed by Newsweek. The two previous adaptations (not produced by Disney) on the big screen are a striking example: Snow White and the Hunter (2012), with Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart, reinvents the universe of the Princess, offers a soundtrack signed Florence and the Machine, and… a box at the box office. The same year, Mirror Mirrormore classic version with Julia Roberts and Lily Collins, goes unnoticed. Who remembers, moreover, that Julia Roberts embodied the stepmother?
This revisited version also fishered by its lack of audacity, illustrating Disney’s difficulty to renew its classics without falling into simple recycling. Building only on the notoriety of the very first animated feature film released in 1937 is not enough. This is what Shirley Li, journalist at The Atlantic specialized in the entertainment industry. : “Imagine if they managed to recreate magic, rather than nostalgia? That the evil queen is really materialist, not just a diva in semi-chantered mode. That the forest is truly enchanted, not just a decor for cute animals. And why not return to Snow White A bit of the disturbing shadow of the Grimm brothers? “She wonders.
“Why does Simplet have false tunes of Gollum?”
And what about the reception of the public? The film collects a 44 % score on Rotten Tomatoes, under the 60 % mark which distinguishes “fresh” films from rotten “films”. On IMDB, it caps at 1.6/10. In France, the spectators of Allociné attribute a note of 2.1 to him. “Far too many songs, for my taste, which have no interest. It is the worst live action ever seen,” comments a user. Another exasperates: “The dwarfs are failed, why are they hydrocephalic and why does Simplet have false tunes of Gollum? Why does the hunter not bring his queen an animal heart instead of that of Snow White? Many, many, much too many songs sometimes more shown than sung … that is a lot?
Irony: according to the Hollywood Reporterthe film has outperformed in republican states and underperform in democratic states. So this Snow White Is it too Woke? Or just … too bad?
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