(Image Source: Rachel Zegler Instagram, Improv)
Disney's live-action "Snow White," mired in controversy for months, finally began its theatrical rollout last week. The significant audience backlash leading up to its release clearly translated into dismal box office numbers, with the film pulling in a mere $43 million in its North American opening weekend. While it claimed the top spot for the weekend, this figure falls short of the 2019 live-action "Dumbo," which debuted with $45 million, making "Snow White" Disney's lowest-grossing live-action opening to date.
Internationally, "Snow White" earned $44.3 million in its first week, a figure comparable to its domestic performance. This brings its global opening weekend total to approximately $87 million. For a blockbuster reportedly costing over $200 million (with some estimates suggesting $300 million), this opening is undoubtedly a death knell.
(Image Source: Rachel Zegler Instagram)
In recent days, a legion of netizens worldwide, eager to see the film fail, have been enthusiastically reporting on "Snow White"'s abysmal box office performance. Comedian Rob Schneider joined the chorus, not only reposting multiple X (formerly Twitter) screenshots from other users showing sparse seating charts for "Snow White" screenings but also sarcastically commenting: "I want to sincerely thank Disney Studios for single-handedly ending Hollywood's woke ideology. I also wish all the executives involved in Disney's live-action 'Snow White' success in their next careers outside of entertainment."
In another post, Schneider shared a photo of a woman dressed as Snow White protesting outside a Tesla dealership, quipping: "I know Disney's animated 'Snow White' was made in 1937, so the live-action version might need some modern updates to the story, but I think having Snow White protest in front of a Tesla dealership is a bit much..."
Schneider's particularly strong mockery of "Snow White" stems from his political shift from left to right years ago. He has long been an outspoken critic of Hollywood's political correctness, admitting that his own script proposals have frequently been "censored" and rejected by studios in recent years. As "Snow White" stands as one of the most debated films amidst this cultural trend, Schneider has naturally been following its trajectory closely.