Walt Disney’s Snow White remake loses $170m at the box office

The Walt Disney Company has suffered an estimated $170 million financial hit from its live-action adaptation of Snow White. The film’s production costs were staggering at over $336.5 million, figures that have been meticulously disclosed due to the UK’s tax incentives for productions.

According to Forbes, Hidden Heart Productions—a subsidiary created by Disney—revels in these detailed expenditures typically kept private.

By July 2022, just weeks before principal photography ended, Disney had already spent a mind-boggling $183.3 million on Snow White, writing Caroline Reid for the publication. The full budget pushed the remake above those of other high-profile Disney productions like Rogue One and Guardians of the Galaxy.

The UK government provided significant reimbursements totaling $64.9 million, reducing net costs to $271.6 million. Despite this assistance, theatres would still take half of ticket sales, meaning Disney would have received approximately $102.9 million—leaving a projected loss in excess of $168 million.

Another media outlet described the film’s box office performance as one of the “biggest box office bombs” in movie history, purely in financial terms. This dramatic underperformance has tarnished not just Disney’s reputation but also its business model, highlighting issues with modern adaptations versus classic fairy tales.