411 Box Office Report: Snow White Opens Poorly, Still Claims Top Spot

Snow White won the box office battle this weekend but is losing the war as it got off to a bad start. The latest Disney live-action remake claimed #1 with $43 million. That missed the mark of its hoped-for $50 million start, instead landing in the range that most expected it to going into the weekend. If you don’t count Cruella due to it having a day-and-date release on Disney+ because of the pandemic, this is the lowest start for a Disney live-action remake since Maleficent: Mistress of Evil opened to $36.9 million back in 2019.

But at least Mistress Of Evil legged out, had strong overseas numbers, and cost “only” $185 million. Snow White doesn’t look to be so lucky, with the film doing just $44.3 million overseas for an $87.3 million worldwide take. And that is against a budget that ballooned due to strike-related delays to a reported $270 million. In a word: ouch.

There are a lot of fingers pointing at different causes for why Snow White failed. The short answer is that for all the bad buzz around it, there just wasn’t interest. The trailers have not had positive reactions – the CGI dwarves were a huge driver of negative chatter – and when the reviews came out as middling at best (a 43% aggregate on Rotten Tomatoes), that just confirmed what most people expected from the film.

We can also blame the controversy around the film, but not necessarily in a direct manner. Yes, the film drew tons of digital ink about comments Rachel Zegler made about the original film, both her and Gal Gadot’s views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and how badly Disney fumbled handling criticism around casting the dwarf characters. But those sorts of things don’t typically impact a film’s box office. Disney’s timid handling of the controversies is a more series problem; they tiptoed around promoting the movie and created a Streisand Effect wherein they amplified the stories by dodging them.

Ultimately, the biggest problem is the consensus that it’s just not a very good film. In addition to the iffy reviews, word of mouth is lukewarm. The film’s B+ CinemaScore and 74% RT audience rating sure sound good out of context, but that CinemaScore is the lowest of the modern live-action remakes and the RT rating is well below the average as well.

All this is to say that Snow White is going to bomb; there really isn’t any way around that at this point. Mufasa legged out but people liked that movie and it was able to rely on the holidays for good holds. Snow White has one more week of no competition before Minecraft comes into play, which means it may make it to $110 million or so domestically but not much more than that (and probably less).

Black Bag had a hold that it desperately needed to save Focus Features some red ink as it came in at #2 with $4.4 million. That is a solid drop at 42%, pretty good for a spy thriller, and puts the movie at $14.9 million domestically and $24.1 million worldwide. The film is still not going to be profitable in theaters as the $60 million budget is too much to overcome, so it will have to hope for PVOD and home video viewing to make its money back. Domestically it is taking aim at around $24 million or so.

Captain America: Brave New World is continuing to hold well, as it was down just 28% in its sixth week to $4.1 million. The MCU film had the best hold in the top 10 and has totaled $192.1 million domestically and $400.8 million worldwide and is staying on course for close to $200 million domestically. It will be slightly profitable against its $180 million budget – a disappointment to be sure, but a minor win Marvel Studios will take given the movie’s reportedly troubled production.

Mickey 17 stabilized after last week’s fall, slipping 48% in its third weekend with $3.9 million. The Bong Joon-ho sci-fi film is ultimately going to be a money loser with $40.2 million domestically and $110 million worldwide against a $118 million production budget plus marketing and is still looking like it will end with about $50 million stateside.

Novocaine took an expected drop, falling 57% in its second weekend to bring in $3.8 million. The action comedy has now grossed $15.8 million domestically and $21.1 million overseas against an $18 million budget with a few big overseas markets still to open. It has a path to breakeven and then profit in home viewing, even if its domestic total should be a mild $24 million or so.

Snow White wasn’t the only bomb this weekend as The Alto Knights completely missed the mark. The Robert De Niro-starring crime drama from Warner Bros. opened to just $3.2 million, which is a disastrous showing for a film that cost $45 million to produce. That’s the lowest wide release opening of De Niro’s career, “beating” 2023’s The War With Grandpa which opened to $3.6 million in 2023.

Warner Bros. did very little to promote this film, so it’s not a big surprise that it fell flat. The film was not well-reviewed (a 36% RT aggregate score) and audiences weren’t too enthusiastic with a 69% RT audience rating and a merely “okay” B CinemaScore. Knights added just $1.9 million overseas for a $5.1 million worldwide start and will be unlikely to even make it to $10 million domestic by the end of its run.

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie was down 42% in its second weekend to bring in $1.8 million. The Ketchup Entertainment-released Looney Tunes film now has $6.5 million domestically and $8.7 million worldwide and is poised to close out around $10 million in the US. It won’t be profitable in theaters with a $15 million budget, but Ketchup makes most of its money in home video anyway and can expect the same here.

The Monkey was up a spot to #8 in its fifth weekend, slipping 38% to ring up $1.5 million. The Osgood Perkins flick now has $37.9 million domestically and $60.1 million worldwide, a hit against an $11 million budget. Its target is $40 million.

Dog Man was off by 41% in its eighth weekend with $1.5 million. The film is a nice hit for DreamWorks Animation and Universal, having put together $95.6 million stateside and $128.8 million worldwide against a $40 million budget. Its endgame in the US is just under $100 million.

The Last Supper hung in there for last spot in the top 10, with the Pinnacle Peak movie scoring $1.3 million. That’s down an expected 52% from last weekend. The biblical drama has $5.3 million and should end its run in the $7 million to $8 million range.

Next weekend will probably see Snow White retain the top spot even if it falls significantly. The best new release is likely to be the Jason Statham action thriller A Working Man which is aiming at around $12 million to $15 million. Other new releases are A24’s horror comedy Death of a Unicorn, targeting around $10 million, and Universal’s horror film The Woman In the Yard which is looking for a start in the mid-single digits.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Snow White – $43 million ($43 million total, $87.3 million WW)
2. Black Bag – $4.4 million ($14.9 million total, $24.1 million WW)
3. Captain America: Brave New World – $4.1 million ($192.1 million total, $400.8 million WW)
4. Mickey 17 – $3.9 million ($40.2 million total, $110.2 million WW)
5. Novocaine – $.8 million ($15.8 million total, $21.1 million WW)
6. The Alto Knights – $3.2 million ($3.2 million total, $5.1 million WW)
7. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie – $1.8 million ($6.5 million total, $8.7 million WW)
9. The Monkey – $1.5 million ($37.9 million total, $60.1 million WW)
8. Dog Man – $1.5 million ($95.6 million total, $129 million WW)
10. The Last Supper – $1.3 million ($5.3 million total, $5.3 million WW)