Cliff Notes – Snow White box office flop sparks disaster for Disney’s future live-action movies
- Disney has paused the development of live-action films, including the adaptation of Tangled, following the disappointing box office performance of Snow White, which grossed only $145 million against a $270 million budget.
- The film faced significant backlash, including criticism of its reimagined characters and controversy surrounding lead actress Rachel Zegler’s comments on social media, which led to security concerns for her co-star Gal Gadot.
Snow White box office flop sparks disaster for Disney’s future live-action movies
Live-action Disney films have reportedly been paused following the release of Snow White (Picture: Disney)
The live-action version of Tangled has reportedly been put on pause after Snow White bombed at the box office.
Disney is believed to be reassessing the potential of other live-action movies in the wake of Snow White’s poor performance at the box office.
The film, starring Rachel Zegler as the titular princess and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, failed to replicate the magic of the 1937 original, grossing just $69 million (£53 million) domestically and $145 million (£111 million) worldwide.
This is against a production budget of $270 million (£203 million), leaving Disney significantly in the red.
Sources reportedly confirmed that pre-production on the live-action version of the 2010 animated feature Tangled has been put on ice.
The Hollywood Reporter states producers had started booking meetings with potential talent to star in the remake, however, all live-action adaptations are now believed to be on hold as the studio takes a closer look at its production strategy.
The live-action adaptation of Tangled was in development with The Greatest Showman’s Michael Gracey on board to direct with a script by Thor: Love and Thunder’s Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.
Disney also has live-action iterations of its hit movies Lilo & Stitch and Moana, in the works for release this May and in July 2026 respectively.
Snow White has been plagued with controversy, angering some over its reimagining of the seven dwarf characters as ‘magical creatures.’
Lead actress Zegler faced racist abuse from trolls over her Latina heritage, with some going as far as starting petitions for her to be recast.
An early interview in which she declared the original Snow White movie ‘weird’, angered die-hard fans of the source material.
Snow White and Disney faced backlash from film critics and fans alike who criticised media coverage of Zegler’s previous tweets addressing her views on Palestine and Donald Trump.
Rachel Zegler has been fiercely defended by fans and critics alike after trolls bombarded her with hate online (Picture: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Disney)
Writing on X on August 13, West Side Story actor Zegler ended a post with ‘And always remember, free Palestine.’
According to Variety, the tweet allegedly sparked death threats towards her Israeli co-star Gadot, 39, forcing Disney to pay for additional security.
An insider told the publication: ‘She didn’t understand the repercussions of her actions as far as what that meant for the film, for Gal, for anyone.’
Variety reports that a Disney executive ‘raised the studio’s concerns’ with Zegler’s team, and Snow White producer Marc Platt flew to New York to speak to the actor.
Zegler reportedly ‘stood her ground’ during discussions and did not delete the post, but agreed to see a social media guru to vet posts ahead of Snow White’s release.
Metro has contacted representatives for Disney for comment
