Will “Snow White” be the fairest of them all at the box office?
Disney‘s live-action remake of the 1937 animated classic is targeting $45 million to $55 million from 4,200 North American theaters in its opening weekend. Internationally, the film is estimated to collect $50 million for a global start above $100 million. Those ticket sales will easily be enough to lead the domestic box office, which is coming off the worst weekend of 2025 as Paramount’s action comedy “Novocaine” topped charts with just $8.7 million.
Based on projections, “Snow White” won’t reach the initial box office heights of prior Disney live-action remakes, including 2023’s “The Little Mermaid” ($95 million opening weekend), 2016’s “Jungle Book” ($103 million) and a trio of billion-dollar smashes, 2019’s “The Lion King” ($191 million) and “Aladdin” ($91 million), 2017’s “Beauty and the Beast” ($174 million). Instead, “Snow White” is tracking a similar start to 2019’s “Dumbo,” which took off with $45 million, only to stall out at $353 million, a disappointing tally for the $170 million film.
“Snow White” was significantly more expensive than “Dumbo,” costing north of $250 million before marketing expenses are factored in, which means the family film needs to stick around in cinemas to justify its price tag. Disney hopes the movie’s staying power is closer to last December’s “Mufasa.” The “Lion King” prequel launched with a tepid $35 million, but eventually climbed to $252 million domestically and a mighty $716 million worldwide.
“West Side Story” star Rachel Zegler is portraying the original Disney princess in “Snow White” alongside “Wonder Woman” herself Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. In the film, Snow White teams up with seven dwarves to liberate her kingdom from her cruel stepmother. Another Disney live-action remake, “Lilo & Stitch,” lands in theaters in May.
In the case of “Snow White,” brand familiarity and a lack of competition will certainly help, though the movie has been dogged with controversies, including complaints about changes to the story (Zegler says this take on the nearly 100-year-old fairy tale is “more feminist”) and calls for boycotts because of Zegler and Gadot’s (opposing) stances on the Israel-Hamas war. Disney scaled back the movie’s premiere, forgoing a red carpet where reporters could have asked the stars about said backlash.
Also this weekend, Robert De Niro’s R-rated mob drama “The Alto Knights” is shaping up to be one of the year’s biggest flops. It’s aiming for $2 million to $3 million from 2,800 cinemas in its domestic debut. Warner Bros. is releasing the $45 million-budgeted film, directed by Barry Levinson, the veteran filmmaker of “Rain Man” and “Wag the Dog.”
In “Alto Knights,” formerly titled “Wise Guys,” De Niro pulls of double duty as notorious crime bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. A power struggle devolves into chaos after Genovese orders a hit on Costello, who tries to protect himself and his family while also attempting to retire from the mafia.
Unless projections miraculously improve, “Alto Knights” will be the second consecutive theatrical misfire for Warner Bros. The studio released Bong Joon Ho’s “Mickey 17″ earlier in March, with the offbeat sci-fi comedy so far grossing $90 million globally against a hefty $118 million budget. Warner Bros.’ fortunes should rebound with anticipated follow-ups to “Mortal Kombat,” “Final Destination” and “The Conjuring” over the next few months. There are several pricey gambles, too, like Paul Thomas Anderson’s $130 million untitled film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Coogler’s $90 million budgeted vampire thriller “Sinners” and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s $80 million Frankenstein spinoff “The Bride!”
