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Quick LinksSnow White Picks Up Where Movies Like Aladdin Left OffThis Trend Extends Beyond Live Action Adaptations

Disney's live-action adaptation of Snow White hit theaters on March 21, 2025, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the reviews are polarizing. Many critics cite Snow White (2025) as "pure Disney magic," while others have pointed out the issues with the CGI, questioned the casting choices, and wondered why the movie took so long to get to the point. It's safe to say that this movie has a lot of ups and downs, but the most important aspect of this movie is how it continues a popular and important trend.

Disney has built a legacy on the backs of princesses who need to be rescued by a knight in shining armor or a prince. While fans still love classic Disney fairytales, many of the classic Disney tropes feel outdated. Fortunately, Disney has already shifted the narrative to give more...

Sure, headlines are calling its launch "a fiasco" and suggesting its underwhelming box office is "in bomb terrority," but there's a case to be made that Disney’s embattled Snow White could be among next year’s Oscar nominees.

Call us Dopey if you must. However, there are several Oscar-winning and -nominated artisans involved in the film's production. Without the consultation of the mirror, here’s the fairest case for the live-action Snow White with Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot to land some awards recognition next year.

Best Costume Design

Sandy Powell is one of the most-decorated costume designers of all time, with 15 Oscar nominations and three wins — and she has notably already received Oscar nominations for her previous Disney live-action movies: 2015’s Cinderella and 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns. This is also a category where the live-action Disney remakes have historically performed exceptionally well: Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast,...

When an actress makes her debut with a music video sung by Bollywood’s renowned singer Madhushree, and when the video is directed, choreographed and Production by the famous dance director Shabina Khan, it couldn’t be a better start to her career! We are talking about actress Ridhima Pai, whose first song, “Mujhpe Tera Fitoor”, has been released on the Rdc Melodies channel. Produced by Priya Talwar, this romantic song is receiving immense appreciation. The grand music video’s overwhelming response has left Ridhima Pai thrilled and excited. Presented by Risers Production, the song’s lyrics and music are composed by Prini Siddhant Madhav.

The song launch event in Mumbai was graced by Ridhima Pai, Madhushree, producer Priya Talwar, Siddhant Madhav, Durgaram from Rdc Melodies, and the male vocalists of the Hindi and Tamil versions, Mandar Sabnis ,Roby Badal and Mansi Dovhal, among other esteemed guests.

Ridhima Pai celebrated...

It was yet another disappointing weekend at the box office in 2025. We're coming off of a rough stretch in March that has seen movies misfire left and right, with "Novocaine" and "Black Bag" having recently led the worst weekend of the year so far. All eyes then turned to Disney to hopefully save the day with its live-action remake of "Snow White," which stars Rachel Zegler ("West Side Story") and Gal Gadot ("Wonder Woman"). Sorry to say, this was not like the Disney remakes of the 2010s that did gangbusters business. Rather, it's a full-blown bomb.

Director Marc Webb's "Snow White" opened to an estimated $43 million domestically, coming in well below projections that had it debuting in the $50 million range. To be clear, even that wouldn't have been great for a movie with a production budget north of $250 million. Disney needed this to be a smash hit. To make matters worse,...

Hey there, Disney fans! The House of Mouse just launched another one of their live-action remakes, but things aren’t looking as magical as they’d hoped. Disney’s lavish adaptation of Snow White, starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, has just hit theaters with some pretty mixed results at the box office.

While it did snag the weekend’s top spot, there’s definitely some nail-biting happening in Disney’s executive suites right now.

Rachel Zegler in Snow White (2025) | Credits: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Although the fantasy flick pulled in substantially less than anticipated for its opening weekend, domestically and internationally, it still raked in millions. That might sound impressive on the surface, but when you’re Disney, and you’ve poured an enormous sum into production, falling short of your global launch target is definitely cause for concern. Let’s dig into what’s happening with this fairest-of-them-all remake.

Disney has done a great deal of work in unifying its streaming offerings on one app, but is it losing something important in the process?

Disney’s streaming ambitions are plain to see. The company has done a huge amount of work to unify its streaming properties into a single app, one that could ideally someday challenge Netflix, or at the very least, cement itself as the No. 2 streaming provider in the world. But as Disney rushes to consolidate its content on the Disney+ app, it’s worth exploring whether or not the company is sacrificing the family-friendly experience that has become so synonymous with its brand for decades.

Key Details: Disney+ officially rolled out Hulu content around a year ago. ESPN+ content, including some UFC events followed in late 2024. The changes mean that content with extreme violence and other adult themes is now shown alongside Disney classics. Sign Up Now $9.99+ / month disneyplus.

There’s magic in every one of us, or so Disney wants to make us believe. For years, the studio has been behind some of our favorite animated movies, from Dumbo – remember him?

The elephant with the big ears – to Lady and the Tramp – who could possibly forget those two – and of course, their iconic princesses.

In recent times, Disney has devoted more time and energy to bringing these magical stories, and the songs that accompany them, alive on the big screen as live-action adaptations.

Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty – *cough cough Maleficent – The Little Mermaid, Aladdin – or should we say Princess Jasmine – Mulan, and now, Snow White.

Moana live-action is reportedly in the works, and I heard something about the Princess and the Frog. Is that still a thing?

Anyway, with the amount of criticisms and media storm that ‘Snow White’ has faced and well, the film hitting theaters this week,...

Worldwide box office: March 21-23 Rank Film (distributor) 3-day (world) Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Snow White(Disney) $87.3m $87.3m $44.3m $44.3m 52 2. Ne Zha 2(various) $15.4m $2.10bn $15.2m $2.08bn 9 3. Mickey 17(Warner Bros) $12m $110.0m $8.1m $69.8m 70 4. Black Bag(Universal) $7.4m $24.1m $3.9m $9.2m 43 5. Captain America: Brave New World(Disney) $7.2m $400.8m $3.1m $208.7m 53 6. Novocaine(Paramount) $6.3m $21.1m $2.5m $5.3m 53 7. The Alto Knights(Warner Bros) $5.1m $5.1m $1.9m $1.9m 9 8. Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy(various) $3.3m $126.5m $3.3m $126.5m 76 9. The Monkey(various) $3.3m $65.1m $1.7m $27.2m 61 10. Paddington In Peru(Sony) $3.1m $190.1m $1.8m $146.4m 52

Credit: Comscore.

The following reveals spoilers for Snow White, now playing in theaters.

The 2025 remake of Snow White has arrived amid an unusual amount of ire for a Disney live-action adaptation. The company has been delivering similar projects for decades, and while few of them can match the power of their animated predecessors, their financial success is unquestioned. Most criticisms against them are legitimate but mild, and in a post-streaming entertainment era, everything gets recycled sooner or later. Snow White feels different, however. The 1937 animated version is one of cinema's enduring classics, the first feature-length animated motion picture ever made and an unquestioned work of art.

The remake, while better than its harshest critics suggest, suffers from too many deep and abiding flaws to stand up to the comparison. Critics needn't go back to the 1930s to find a better film to compare it to. The new Snow White patterns many of...

A new report suggests that despite the loud voices on the internet seemingly pulling Snow White into a cultural war, general audiences didn't seem to careas the movie seemed to perform evenly across the country in Red and Blue-leaning cities. For over four years, most of the discourse about Snow White has not been about the actual movie itself but behind the scenes. While the internet certainly makes this a big deal, one must remember that online discourse does not always translate to the real world.

In a report published by Deadline, box office analytics company EntTelligence revealed that despite a seeming conservative-based backlash to Snow White, the movie overperformed in Red County-based cinemas compared to other films, with 40% ticket sales and43.5% admissions. The report did indicate that 60% of ticket sales for Snow White and 56.5% of the film's total attendance (3.1 million admissions) came from theaters in Blue counties. However, it...

Snow White has a long way to whistle while it works financially, at least, if the latest movie from the Mouse House plans on breaking even during its theatrical run. However, despite the controversy that could have acted like the infamous poison apple which utterly killed Disney’s latest live-action reimagining at the box office, the Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot-led film has still done the theater industry a tremendous favor by leading the highest-grossing weekend domestically since late February. Director Marc Webb’s Snow White easily landed the No. 1 slot over the weekend with an estimated $43 million because no other film in the Top 5 managed to make more than $4.4 million (Black Bag) on its own.

Snow White also managed to pick up another $44.3 million overseas for a worldwide total of $87.3 million. Unfortunately, ascending to the top spot is hardly a victory for the live-action Disney flick given its...

For months before its Mar. 21 release, Disney's latest release, the live-action Snow White, was plagued with criticism. Among several delays, casting backlash, and more, Snow White didn't have many reasons to sing "Heigh-Ho."

A few weeks ago, Snow White was predicted to win over $60 million domestically, a figure that was updated ahead of the film's release. However, the Thursday preview numbers proved the live-action remake won't be a total disappointment, placing it higher than movies like 2019's Dumbo and Maleficent 2. Now that the early Sunday numbers are here, Deadline reports Snow White opened to $43 million domestically, and an $87.3 million start worldwide.

Despite the ongoing backlash, the film's release was higher than other controversial movies. Last year, the much-criticized Joker 2 sequel, Folie à Deux, made only $40 million at the domestic box office against a projection of up to $70 million in its opening weekend.

Snow White is right next Dumbo's lackluster start,...

Refresh for latest…: Disney’s live-action take on Snow White has come in with a global launch of $87.3M. From 51 material international box office markets, the update of the classic 1937 animation grossed an estimated $44.3M. Both domestic and overseas returns are below pre-weekend projections.

In like-for-like offshore markets at today’s rates (and excluding China), the bow is 16% below Cinderella, 19% under Dumbo and 33% off of The Little Mermaid.

The Rachel Zegler-starrer opened as the No. 1 or No. 1 non-local title in the majority of major overseas markets as well as all smaller ones. Across Europe, Snow White’s debut was just 6% below Cinderella in like-for-like markets at current rates. Throughout Latin America, it was No. 1 in every market.

There’s runway ahead for the movie to play into holidays, but the opening begs the question: What’s up, Doc? The $50M+ hoped for overseas ahead of the launch didn...

The numbers are in for Disney‘s live-action remake of 1937′s iconic Snow White!

The film, which stars Rachel Zegler in the title role and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, brought in $43 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend.

Globally, Snow White took in $44.3 million for an overall haul of $87.3 million, via THR.

Keep reading to find out more…

The movie cost a reported $250 million to make.

There are examples of live-action movies slowly generating big numbers at the box office. Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King recently debuted to $35 million around Christmas 2024, going on to bring in $700 million globally.

The company projected an opening for Snow White between $45 million and $55 million.

Snow White earned a B+ CinemaScore from audiences. Almost every Disney live-action film has received a variation of an A grade. It has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 43%, and an audience score of 74%.

As...

Trouble is a brewin’ for the controversy-laden Snow White, the live-action remake of the iconic 1937 animated film that put Walt Disney’s film empire on the map.

The big-budget tentpole opened to $42.2 million domestically, enough for a first-place finish but behind even the most modest of expectations after getting battered by so-so audience scores and underwhelming reviews, according to final weekend actuals. That’s less than Sunday’s estimated $43 million, and is also less than Tim Burton’s Dumbo, which came in at $45 million in 2019. Overseas, Snow White took in $43.3 million for a global launch of $86.1 million after hoping to clear $100 million. (Sunday’s estimate was just north of $87 million globally.)

The good news: The $250 million production still had no trouble winning the weekend and will have no competition until Warner Bros.’ kid-friendly A Minecraft Movie opens April 4. Moreover, the female-skewing film is hoping to emulate the pace and tempo...

4th Update Sunday Am Writethru: Disney’s Snow White is coming in lighter for the weekend with $43M domestic and an $87.3M global start. Not a happy ending for this $270M production, which was impacted by the actors strike, Covid breakout, a set fire and more.

They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but clearly in the case of Snow White there was. Disney has been put through the ringer before on controversial theatrical releases — i.e. Solo: A Star Wars Story and its swapping of directors from Lord & Miller to Ron Howard, which deep-sixed that movie to a very less than $1 billion global take of $393M worldwide. It’s why Disney muzzles talent on slipping any kind of information on a movie months in advance, particularly on Star Wars and Marvel movies. The concern is that if starts tease too much, or go off book, it...

Disney’s live-action remakes have been a very mixed bag, but for the most part, they’ve been tremendously successful at the box office. Many of them have been controversial, as Disney has often radically reworked stories to suit modern sensibilities, which could include more diverse (or accurate) representations of characters. However, some of their choices have been equally puzzling, with them sometimes watering down stories so much that they become nearly unrecognizable. This isn’t always a bad thing, with Maleficent an especially radical reimagining of Sleeping Beauty, which audiences at the time embraced. In recent years, movies like Snow White have proven to be controversial, with many feeling their re-imaginings were more preoccupied with pushing agendas than providing entertainment.

Whatever the case, it also can’t be denied that not all of their remakes have been bad. Many loved Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book, while Cruella, a new take on 101 Dalmatians,...

A walk-in cooler caught fire at Disney World Epcot’s France Pavilion, and just like that, Disney’s dreamy world got a taste of smoky reality. The usually sweet-smelling corner of the park, home to the adorable Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure ride, suddenly turned into a scene from a disaster movie.

Thick black smoke climbed into the clear Florida sky, startling visitors who had expected to be whisked away into a Parisian kitchen, definitely not evacuated from one. Videos of the blaze quickly took over social media, as stunned guests captured the chaos from every angle.

Disney World Epcot (Credits- Walt Disney World)

Luckily, no one was hurt, and the fire was contained swiftly. But this little blaze stirred up something Disney probably hoped would stay buried, memories of past disasters that weren’t quite as harmless. Behind the pixie dust and perfect smiles lies a history of incidents that...

Snow White has finally opened in theaters, and while critical reaction has been mixed, audience reactions are trending more positive. Snow White's audience score might help it deliver a larger box office than expected, with Tim Burton's divisive Dumbo well within its reach. A remake of 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney's latest telling of Snow White, has undergone more public scrutiny than any of their previous live-action remakes. Although the film has been subjected to plenty of online hate ahead of its release, now that the movie is out, general audiences are responding kindly. Not glowing like a jewel in the dwarf's mine, but certainly not the disaster many might have expected or rooted for it to be.

CinemaScore reports that Snow White has scored a B+ on their grading system. This is the lowest CinemaScore that a Disney live-action remake has received, with the...

After what seems like weeks of controversy, Disney's Snow White debuted in over 4,200 domestic theaters to mixed reviews. Snow White is the latest in Disney's streak of live-action remakes of past animated hits; in this case, it's the 1937 classic that remains a favorite among audiences of all ages. Directed by Marc Webb, who has experience with mega-budget blockbusters thanks to his two The Amazing Spider-Man movies, Snow White stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, and the fantasy remake has inspired raging controversy for a wide variety of reasons. Despite, or, perhaps, because of this, the movie debuted with $16 million on its opening day of release.

Snow Whiteis eying around $45 million in its first weekend of release, which is decidedly low for this sort of movie. By comparison, the big-budget remake of Dumbo made a similar amount a few years ago, before under-performing with around $350 million worldwide. Snow White cost significantly...

Director Marc Webb's Snow White, the live-action remake of Disney's classic animated film from 1937, finally debuted in theaters after weeks of controversy surrounding its two stars, Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot. Zegler and Gadot's perceived political leanings have stirred debate around the movie, which itself wasn't that well-received by critics. Despite the noise, however, opening day audiences didn't seem to mind the film. The overtly vocal lot, it seems, was always in the minority, as mainstream crowds appeared to embrace the family-friendly film with open arms.

According to CinemaScore, the polling platform that tabulates how likely an audience member is to recommend a movie to others, Snow Whiteearned an encouraging B+ grade. This bodes well for the film's future, as movies with higher grades typically have longer legs at the box office. Those with low grades usually tank after the first weekend. That being said, Disney's past live-action remakes have all earned better CinemaScores,...

2025 sees two Disney live-action remakes hit theaters, Snow White and Lilo & Stitch. It also means it has been 15 years since Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland kicked off this trend that has dominated the box office despite audiences and critics deriving it. For a decade now, audiences have seen films from Disney's classic era(Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio) and Renaissance get the live-action treatment to mixed results. However, right at the cusp of this Disney remake era, an ABC series put its own unique spin on many of Disney's classic canon and did it better than most of the live-action films that had triple the budget. We are, of course, talking about Once Upon a Time.

Once Upon a Time debuted on ABC in October 2011, a little over a year after Alice in Wonderland, and concluded in May 2018, between the $1 billion releases of Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. Since then,...

Disney’s live-action remake of ‘Snow White’ hit theaters recently, and it’s stirring up some chatter. This isn’t just another retelling of the classic tale—it’s made history, but not in the way the studio might have hoped. Audiences gave it a B+ on CinemaScore, which tracks how moviegoers feel right after watching. That’s a decent mark for most films, but for Disney’s track record with live-action remakes, it stands out as the lowest ever.

The film brings Rachel Zegler into the spotlight as Snow White, with Gal Gadot playing the wicked Evil Queen. Directed by Marc Webb, it’s a musical take on the 1937 animated original, complete with new songs and a fresh spin on the story. Zegler’s known for her breakout role in ‘West Side Story,’ while Gadot’s no stranger to big roles, having starred in ‘Wonder Woman.’ The cast also...

by Cláudio Alves

When was the last time the live-action remake of one of Disney's animated properties presented something worth watching? One supposes Cruella had those Jenny Beavan-designed Oscar-winning costumes to recommend it for, and Winnie the Pooh was alright in its melancholic tone. By my account, the last wholly successful of these enterprises was Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella, released a whole decade ago this year. Part of it stemmed from a willingness to deviate from the original, an understanding of the tale's inherent qualities beyond its value as nostalgia fodder, and the lavish production values courtesy of Dante Ferretti and Sandy Powell.

The latter is back to Disney's mercenary recycling scheme with Snow White, a project that harkens back to Cinderella without reaching the same modest heights. Sandy Powell innocent, though. Well, mostly…...

Snow White is officially out in theaters. The live-adaptation remake of the beloved 1937 animated movie of the same name, which has been plagued with controversy, is pulling encouraging numbers.

Per Deadline, Disney's Snow White has pulled strong preview numbers. On Thursday, the movie made $3.5 million domestically, and early PostTrak notes that it had 5 stars with kids under 12. The general audience's feedback is three stars.

Marc Webb's new film ranks above 2019's Dumbo, which had $2.6 million in previews, ending its run with only $353.1 million, and 2019's Maleficent 2, which opened with $2.3 million, ending its run with $489.1 million, but not far from DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fun Panda 4, which had $3.8 million in previews in 2024 and ended up grossing $547.8 million.

Initially, Snow White was projected to open with more than $60 million domestically. In recent days, the new live-action adaptation is looking at a $40 million+ debut.

Although the early reactions had nothing but praise...

Disney’s live-action Show White is off to a solid start at the domestic box office despite being laden with controversy.

The event pic earned $3.5 million in Thursday previews to place ahead of fellow live-action remakes 2015’s Cinderella ($2.3 million) and 2019’s Dumbo ($2.8 million), not adjusted for inflation, and come in not that far behind DreamWorks Animation and Universal’s 2024 box office win Kung Fu Panda 4 ($3.8 million) and Disney’s 2014 feature Maleficent ($4.3 million).

If preview numbers are any indication, the movie has every chance of crossing $50 million and spark a turnaround at the lagging 2025 domestic box office. Globally, it is targeting a debut of $100 million or more despite a not-too-welcomed Rotten Tomatoes score of 46 percent (Jon Favreau’s billion-dollar blockbuster The Lion King was hardly hurt by a Rt critics score of 51 percent.)

Among other Disney live-action princess remakes, Beauty and the Beast astounded when opening to $174.6 million domestically in mid-March 2017, not adjusted for inflation.

On Saturday, March 15, on a sunny afternoon, Disney’s “Snow White” finally had its big premiere at the Disney-owned El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. There was a brightly decorated pre-party with activities for kids. The stars of the movie, Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, who had weathered respective controversies, showed up and even took pictures together, sometimes with director Marc Webb sandwiched in-between them. Instead of actual press, Disney had Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel in 1989’s animated classic “The Little Mermaid,” asking questions on behalf of D23, the company’s in-house fan club. A chubby bunny hopped down the red carpet.

The premiere felt like a joyful release, or maybe a guttural scream, depending on who you talk to, and served as the culmination of a nearly 10-year journey to get this gauzy remake of Walt Disney’s original animated classic back to the big screen. That near-decade had been besieged by controversy,...

The first trailer for Lilo & Stitch was finally released earlier this month and we now have a clip (via Toonado.com) from the long-awaited movie. Successfully capturing the spirit of the animated classic it adapts, this latest preview highlights what looks to be a pitch-perfect take on Experiment 626.

Disney's live-action remakes typically divide opinions, something we've seen as recently as yesterday when Snow White hit Rotten Tomatoes as the worst-reviewed of those to date.

Stitch has remained incredibly popular since the original animated movie was released in 2002 and, thanks to a clever marketing campaign, excitement for this one is through the roof. That includes some new posters which once again insert Lilo & Stitch's title character into a variety of classic features.

Last October, we caught up with Stitch's creator and voice actor Chris Sanders about The Wild Robot and asked for his thoughts on Stitch's enduring popularity.

"Yeah, he...

The latest “live-action” re-imagining of an animated Disney classic, Snow White, proves to be less of the triumphant success that 2017’s Beauty and the Beast was and more of a competent and entertaining, yet flawed, adaptation along the lines of Cinderella (2015) or The Jungle Book (2015). Although it has a dynamic tandem of leads in Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, it is Zegler who proves the more intrinsic piece to the film’s overall success than her counterpart.

Snow White plays out as a faithful adaptation of the well-known story of an orphaned princess who, with the help of seven dwarves she befriends after escaping the clutches of her evil stepmother, attempts to bring peace and prosperity back to a kingdom that hasn’t enjoyed such since her father and mother ruled over the land side by side.

In this version, Snow White is played by Rachel Zegler and her stepmother – aka,...

The beloved “Star Wars” sequel “The Empire Strikes Back” is set to open this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival on April 24, with director George Lucas presenting the film for its 45th anniversary.

“’The Empire Strikes Back’ is like ‘The Godfather Part II.’ Yes, technically, they’re sequels, the second movie in a series. But they are so much more,” TCM’s primetime anchor Ben Mankiewicz said in a statement. “The first ‘Star Wars’ picture in 1977 ignited a new era in Hollywood and turned a generation of young people into passionate movie fans for life. Then, somehow, three years later, along comes ‘Empire,’ which might even be better. It’s a stunning accomplishment and surely stands one of the great achievements in the history of film.”

Additional titles that will screen at this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival include “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” “The Lady Eve,” “Cinderella,” “Apocalypse Now,...

Rachel Zegler in Disney’s live-action ‘Snow White’

In 2015, Disney released its live-action remake of their beloved 1950 animated classic Cinderella. The remake charmed audiences and many critics, becoming the 12th top-grossing film of the year. Since its success, Disney has remade more of its animated films as live-action, including Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.

In 2025, Disney dares to make a live-action remake of the animated classic that started it all, the 1937 film Snow White. Rachel Zegler from West Side Story portrays the fair princess, while Gal Gadot from Wonder Woman slides into the role of her evil stepmother.

The movie begins with two little animals opening the fairy tale book Snow White, and a voiceover recites the classic opening line, “Once upon a time.” The narrator then reveals that Snow White was born during a significant snowstorm, leading her parents, the King and Queen, to name her Snow White.

It’s trendy these days to take a character from popular children’s stories and given them a horror twist. Lately we’ve been hearing about horror movies based on the likes of Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Bambi, Pinocchio, Three Blind Mice, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears… and like I said the last time I wrote about this, when one set of filmmakers decides to make a horror film featuring a beloved kids’ story character, there are sometimes multiple other sets of filmmakers working on horror films that center on the same character. We’ve seen this happen with Mickey Mouse, and now the character who’ll soon be seen in more than one horror movie is Popeye the Sailor Man. Last November, it was announced that Alpeke Entertainment is working on a slasher horror comedy called Shiver Me Timbers, which puts a horror twist on Popeye.

Disney has been producing animated films for decades, which have become more successful over the years. From Beauty and the Beast to The Lion King, the brand put out some critically acclaimed and still-loved works throughout the 20th century. The company later bought Pixar and produced some of the modern era's most acclaimed and successful animated films, including last year's Inside Out 2, which was the highest-grossing animated movie of all time for a brief period, before being dethroned by 2025's Ne Zha 2.

In recent years, however, Disney has been reviving their past animated successes to prop up live-action remakes. This kicked off with Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, which became an increasing trend throughout the 2010s and 2020s. Most recently, Disney is releasing a live-action Snow White, starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot. The first Snow White reviews are in, but they are skewing mixed to negative,...

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs isn't just a beloved Disney classic, but also the first animated feature to revolutionize the animation industry. With stunning visuals, highly memorable musical numbers, and iconic character designs, the legacy of the original movie was always going to be difficult to surpass. Nevertheless, Disney and director Marc Webb sought to reimagine the 88-year-old movie for a new generation.

Starring Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, Snow White is far more than a live-action update on the animated classic. Similar to Disney's Cinderella remake from 2015, Snow White further fleshes out the titular heroine's backstory, both with the Evil Queen and her birth parents, which calls back to the original Grimm fairy tale, Schneewittchen. Though the movie aims to honor the legacy of the original movie while updating the story's more problematic elements, it does fall short on executing its...

Disney’s embattled live-action version of Snow White isn’t necessarily the fairest of them all, but its reviews aren’t as outright negative as the prerelease buzz might have indicated.

“As it turns out, this is one of the better live-action adaptations of a Disney animated feature,” Variety critic Owen Gleiberman wrote on Wednesday as the film’s review embargo lifted, a sentiment shared by many — but not most — critics.

Directed by Marc Webb, the new version of Snow White has been central to several controversies and outrage cycles over the last several years — from a racist backlash to casting Rachel Zegler, who is of Colombian descent, in the title role to grievances from Disney fans over Zegler’s comments about the 1937 animated classic’s retrograde view of women. The project unwittingly became entangled with geopolitics as well. Zegler and costar Gal Gadot, who plays the Evil Queen, stand...

After years of delays and online vitriol, Disney is finally set to release its remake of “Snow White,” and it’s going to take a lot to keep it from becoming one of the biggest flops in the studio’s now decade-old remake series.

With a reported production budget said to be at least $250 million, “Snow White” is tracking for a domestic opening of $45-50 million and a global opening of around $100 million. For comparison, the domestic range is similar to the $45.9 million launch of Tim Burton’s 2019 remake of “Dumbo,” which went on to gross a disappointing $353 million worldwide against a $170 million budget before marketing.

That leaves “Snow White” in a situation where it will need an unexpected, multiweek comeback akin to what “Mufasa” achieved this past winter just to break even. Like “Mufasa,” it’s not going to get help from critics, who are tepid on the film...

It was going to come to this eventually. Beginning in 2010 with the release of Tim Burton's not-at-all-good "Alice in Wonderland," the Disney Entertainment Complex discovered they could make billions merely remaking their most popular animated films using live-action actors and modern-day CGI. In the last 15 years, the company has gleefully cannibalized its own catalogue, siphoning nostalgia from the brains of millennials like so much cerebrospinal fluid. This was a curious practice, as the bulk of the films they were remaking were already based on folk tales, ancient stories, or children's literature that is adapted frequently by filmmakers the world over. 

The raison d'être of these remakes (apart from the nostalgia money) was seemingly to allow Disney to keep their flag of ownership deeply planted in tales like "Cinderella," "Aladdin," and "The Little Mermaid," assuring audiences that, yes, their version was the "official" version. Hans Christian Andersen is just some old hack,...

Of all the Disney animated classics to have been given the live-action treatment, few are more beloved than 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a landmark feature that opened the door to a whole vault of canonical fairy tales ideally suited to the form. That, in turn, led to original stories, building the studio a vast, field-leading toon library and a legacy beloved the world over. If Snow White arrives accompanied by an echo chamber of overblown online controversies, that has zero bearing on the pleasures of this 21st century update. Even those with knives out for the movie might have to admit it’s no poisoned apple.

Having turned this particular form of brand extension and IP strip-mining into a subgenre unto itself, Disney’s live-action remake boom — which has ballooned into a full-scale explosion in the past decade — has been a mixed bag. Some are such products...

After raiding the crown jewels for just about every live-action reboot imaginable, Disney has finally gotten around to the one that started it all, the 1937 classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. That film represents Walt Disney’s first-ever full-length animated feature.

Originally, Disney’s plan was to rerelease its animated vault treasures every seven years for a new generation of kids, but they got the bright idea to instead remake those films as live-action features. Thus we have had versions of Sleeping Beauty reimagined around evil Maleficent; Peter Pan; Fantasia; Dumbo; Pinocchio; three variations on 101 Dalmatians including Cruella; The Lion King; Jungle Book; Aladdin; Mulan; Alice In Wonderland; The Little Mermaid; and an unfortunate attempt to meddle with my favorite, Lady and the Tramp among others. The best in the live-action genre to date remain Bill Condon’s blockbuster Beauty and the Beast and Kenneth Branagh’s splendid Cinderella.

A special 45th anniversary screening of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back will kick off the 16th TCM Classic Film Festial, in Hollywood, on Thursday, April 24, Turner Classic Movies announced on Wednesday, and the visionary architect of the Star Wars cinematic universe, George Lucas, will be in attendance.

“The Empire Strikes Back is like The Godfather Part II. Yes, technically, they’re sequels, the second movie in a series. But they are so much more. Empire not only dazzled and delighted Star Wars fans, it pushed the boundaries of moviemaking, further deepening its characters and expanding the most popular cinematic universe of all time,” said Ben Mankiewicz, TCM’s primetime anchor and the official host of the TCM Classic Film Festival. “The first Star Wars picture in 1977 ignited a new era in Hollywood and turned a generation of young people into passionate movie fans for life. Then, somehow, three years later,...

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the second film in the initial Star Wars trilogy, will open the 16th annual TCM Classic Film Festival on Thursday, April 24, and on board to present the film will be director George Lucas, Turner Classics Movies announced.

Celebrating its 45th Anniversary, the gala presentation and opening night launches a weekend fest showcasing exclusive programming themed around “Grand Illusions: Fantastic Worlds on Film.”

“The Empire Strikes Back is like The Godfather Part II,” said Ben Mankiewicz, TCM Primetime Anchor and Official Host of the TCM Classic Film Festival. “Yes, technically, they’re sequels, the second movie in a series. But they are so much more. Empire not only dazzled and delighted Star Wars fans, it pushed the boundaries of moviemaking, further deepening its characters and expanding the most popular cinematic universe of all time.”

Continued Mankiewicz, “The first Star Wars picture in 1977 ignited a new...

“Impressive. Most Impressive.”

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has revealed Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the second film in the Star Wars trilogy, will open the 16th annual TCM Classic Film Festival on Thursday, April 24th. Celebrating its 45th Anniversary, the gala presentation will bring visionary director George Lucas to present the film. The opening night launches an exhilarating weekend in the heart of Hollywood, showcasing exclusive programming themed around “Grand Illusions: Fantastic Worlds on Film.”

“The Empire Strikes Back is like The Godfather Part II. Yes, technically, they’re sequels, the second movie in a series. But they are so much more. Empire not only dazzled and delighted Star Wars fans, it pushed the boundaries of moviemaking, further deepening its characters and expanding the most popular cinematic universe of all time,” said Ben Mankiewicz, TCM Primetime Anchor and Official Host of the TCM Classic Film Festival. “The first Star...

Max has announced that season two of HBO’s Emmy-winning original drama series The Last of Us will be available to stream in American Sign Language (Asl) alongside the show’s episodes each week beginning with the season debut on Sunday, April 13 at 9:00 p.m. Et.

Season one of the series will be available to stream in Asl starting on Friday, March 31, just in time to catch up before the debut of season two.

This marks the first time that HBO’s original programming will be available to stream in Asl on Max, following the Asl versions of Warner Bros. films such as Barbie, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

This expansion in the availability of Asl programming continues to build on Max’s commitment to creating a premium and accessible streaming experience for all subscribers.

The Last of Us with Asl is performed by Daniel Durant...

Max has announced that season two of the HBO’s Emmy®-winning original drama series The Last Of US will be available to stream in American Sign Language (Asl) alongside the show’s episodes each week beginning with the season debut on Sunday, April 13 at 9:00 p.m. Et. Season one of the series will be available to stream in Asl starting Friday,March 31, just in time to catch up before the debut of season two.

This marks the first time that HBO’s original programming will be available to stream in Asl on Max, following the Asl versions of Warner Bros. films such as Barbie, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. This expansion in availability of Asl programming continues to build on Max’s commitment to create a premium and accessible streaming experience for all subscribers.

The Last Of US with Asl is performed by Daniel Durant...

Once upon a time, 2025 box office revenue was up 22 percent over last year. Now, after a string of miserable weekends, there’s actually a five percent deficit.

If tracking and exhibitor reactions are any indication, Disney’s live-action Snow White could spark a turnaround with a domestic debut in the $45 million range to $55 million range and north of $100 million globally. But there are no guarantees, and Disney execs are on high alert. Overseas, the movie — which faced numerous delays due to the pandemic and labor strikes — is unfurling in virtually every territory, save for a few Middle Eastern markets because of Ramadan.

Snow White arrives in theaters loaded with baggage after being buffeted by delays and controversy again and again, beginning with a backlash over casting Rachel Zegler in the titular role because of the color of her skin (she is of Colombian descent).

More recently, Disney took the unusual...

It's been ten years since Disney released its live-action version of Cinderella, starring Lily James and Cate Blanchett. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, the movie was overall a critical and commercial hit, and ushered in a new era of Disney remakes, kicking off a trend that was already being announced with 2010's Alice in Wonderland and 2014's Maleficent, sparsely produced films that didn't yet give signs of the industrial levels of production that were to come. Indeed, Cinderella is a pretty fun adventure-romance, with good performances and a story and look that don't necessarily follow the 1950 classic all that closely. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the movies that came after it. While some, like the unfortunately direct-to-streaming release Peter Pan & Wendy, are entertaining and inventive. Most, however, like the photorealistic version of The Lion King or the absolute mess that was Pinocchio, are well below the quality standards that...

"Wicked," released with enough green and pink merchandising to choke a horse, has been one of the rare musical extravaganzas to cross over from an audience of theater enthusiasts into the mainstream. Based on the popular Broadway musical starring Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth (which in turn was based on a Gregory Maguire novel of the same name), "Wicked" tells the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West from "The Wizard of Oz." Elphaba ends up becoming roommates with Glinda (Ariana Grande as the future good witch) while they're both studying magic at university. An unlikely friendship blossoms between the two total opposites -- until it's suddenly tested by the lure of the Wizard and his Emerald City. 

"Wicked" was a smash hit, earning over $700 million at the box office and 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Erivo), and Best Supporting Actress (Grande). It ultimately won...

The official trailer for the upcoming Cinderella-inspired horror comedy The Ugly Stepsisteris out! Starring Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, Flo Fagerli, and Ane Dahl Torp in prominent roles, the film is a dark retelling of the classic fairytale. The Ugly Stepsister follows Elivira, played by Myren as she competes with her stepsister for a prince’s attention. The trailer offers a glimpse at how far Elvira goes to outshine everyone else in a world where beauty is everything.

If you are looking for a bit more bite in your fairy tale adaptations, a few weeks after Disney’s Snow White sputters to theaters, the Sundance and Berlinale selection The Ugly Stepsister is here to provide quite a jolt. Emilie Blichfeldt’s bloody, twisted new take on Cinderella will arrive in U.S. theaters on April 18 (and U.K. theaters a week later) and now the first trailer has arrived from IFC Films and Shudder.

Here’s the synopsis: “A sinister twist on the classic Cinderella story, The Ugly Stepsister follows Elvira (Lea Myren) as she prepares to earn the prince’s affection at any cost. In a kingdom where beauty is a brutal business, Elvira will compete with the beautiful and enchanting Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss) to become the belle of the ball.”

I said in my Sundance review, “If the disheartening lack of creativity in Disney...

On Mar. 11, 2025, it was reported that Disney was canceling its red carpet premiere ofSnow White due to controversy surrounding the film, which centered on stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot. Since Zegler was announced as Snow White, a great deal of media coverage has focused on the "controversy" around the film. While the film certainly has come under fire, one point that is treated as a controversy that shouldn't but continues to be covered as such is, as Variety reports, "Some toxic Disney fans questioned Snow White being played by Zegler when her casting was announced because she is a Latina actor." That isn't a controversy, and any sane person would realize that.

Yet much of the discourse around the film, from both fans and journalists, has propped up this narrative that people are angry that Zegler is playing Snow White as a legitimate critique worth taking seriously. The reaction...