Rachel Zegler was great in 2025’s live-actionSnow Whiteremake, but the new Disney film is a harsh reminder of the actress' past box office disappointments. Rachel Zegler is one of the most popular rising stars in Hollywood, with her incredibly origin story inWest Side Storykicking off an impressive career of entering massive franchises like the DCU andThe Hunger Games. While Zegler has been acclaimed throughout her career, the movies that she’s appeared in have rarely been box office successes, andSnow Whiteis the latest entry in a streak of disappointments.
2025’s live-actionSnow Whiteremake was one of Disney’s most notable films of the year, with the movie acting as a retelling of the studio’s first feature-length animated film. However, things quickly began going wrong for the film, withSnow Whitebecoming embroiled in a variety of controversies. WhenSnow Whitefinally hit theaters, it didn’t do nearly as well as Disney had undoubtedly hopes.Snow Whitewas a critical and box office disappointment, with much of the blame unfairly being placed on Zegler’s shoulders. WhileSnow Whitewasn’t Zegler’s fault, it is remniscent of her box office history.
Snow White’s Underwhelming Box Office Performance Explained
It Is Still Under The $100 Million Mark
Disney’s live-action remakes tend to be massive box office successes, even if they are critical failures. The2019The Lion Kingremake made over $1 billion, and whileSnow Whiteprobably wasn’t going to pull these numbers due to the original movie being released in 1937, Disney wouldn’t have made the film if they didn’t think it would be profitable. TheSnow Whiteremake had a massive budget, with the movie costing a whopping $270 million, putting the small-scale princess story at the same price point as some of Disney’s biggest Marvel andStar Warsmovies.
The controversies and negative press surroundingSnow Whitehurt the movie in the lead-up to its release, with many realizing that the movie was going to flop ahead of opening weekend.Snow Whitewas initially projected to gross $63-70 million in its opening weekend, with this soon after being dropped to a window of $45-55 million. As of the writing of this article,Snow Whitehas only made $92.6 million, which is incredibly disappointing for the movie.
9 Snow White Scenes From The Animated Movie The Live-Action Remake Leaves Out
Despite being a remake of Disney’s 1937 animated classic, Snow White left some scenes from the original movie out and replaced them with new ones.
Snow White’s $270 million budget means thatthe film probably has to make around $500 million to become profitable. Based on how the film has done so far, this probably isn’t going to happen. It is possible thatSnow Whitecould pick up steam in the coming weeks. However, based on the negative word of mouth surrounding the movie, this is unlikely.Snow Whitemay be one of the biggest live-action remakes box office bombs in Disney’s filmography, meaning that it is ripe for analysis.
Rachel Zegler Has Already Starred In A Few Major Box Office Disappointments
Only One Movie Has Been A Big Success
Sadly,Snow White’s box office failure isn’t a first for Rachel Zegler, as she has starred in several commercial disappointments before. Steven Spielberg’s 2021 remake ofWest Side Storywas Rachel Zegler’s first film, and while it was critically acclaimed, it was a box office disappointment. The movie made only $76 million against a budget of $100 million, with this likely being due to poor post-COVID theater performances. Zegler’s second movie wasShazam! Fury of the Gods, which made $134.1 million against a budget of $125 million, grossing less than half of the originalShazam!.
After that, Zegler starred inThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Of Zegler’s filmography, this was the most successful, with it making $349 million on a budget of $100 million. However, it is still the lowest-grossingThe Hunger Gamesmovie, with its profitably being due to its relatively low budget. Next, Zegler was inY2K,which made only $4.4 million on a budget of $15 million. Then, Zegler was in a streaming movie calledSpellboundbefore finally appearing in 2025’sSnow Whiteremake. Despite her being incredibly talented, Zegler’s box office hasn’t shone as much as her.
Rachel Zegler Might Be The Common Factor, But She’s Not The Reason Her Movies Underperformed Financially
The Movies Have Problems, But She Isn’t One Of Them
Rachel Zegler might have starred in a lot of box office bombs, but she is undoubtedly not the reason that her movies have underperformed financially. Zegler has always been held up as the best part of the movies that she’s been in, with the critical failings mostly having to do with what surrounds her. On top of that,each of the box office failures that she has been in have had an external reason for their failings, one that has nothing to do with her.
2021’sWest Side Storycame out in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many movies were struggling to perform at the box office.Shazam! Fury of the Godswas part of the dying DCEU, with audiences feeling that the film was unnecessary before DC Studios jumped ship and started the DCU.The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakeswas a prequel filmin a franchise that hadn’t had a new entry since 2015. Finally,Y2Kwas an original film that hinged on nostaliga for a fairly niche period of time, explaining why it underperformed at the box office.
Why Is Disney’s Snow White Getting Such Negative Reviews?
Snow White has received an extreme amount of negative reviews. Today, we explain why audiences are in such an uproar over Disney’s newest live-action remake.
Rachel Zegler’s films have been poorly time, embroiled in controversy, or just not very good. However, none of these factors have to do with her. Rachel Zegler still gives a fantastic performance inSnow White. Unfortunately, the film was controversial, critically panned, and released as part of a trend of live-action Disney remakes that many audience members don’t care for anymore.Snow Whitehas a lot of problems, but Rachel Zegler isn’t one of them.
Snow White Could Still Be One Of Rachel Zegler’s Bigger Box Ofice Hits
It Is Almost There Already
AlthoughSnow Whiteisn’t doing well at the box office, it could still end up being one of Rachel Zegler’s bigger box office hits.The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & SnakesandShazam! Fury of the Godsare Zegler’s only movies to have made over $100 million, andSnow Whitewill almost certaintly hit this mark. It won’t take much more for the remake to passShazam! Fury of the Gods' $134.1 million, althoughSnow Whitemost likely won’t passThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes' $349 million.
