‘Snow White’ debuts in theaters, dogged by controversy

Disney’s Snow White, with an estimated budget of $270 million, has become mired in the nation’s divisions over race, the 2024 election and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Disney’s Snow White reached theaters on Friday, after having been dogged by controversies that dragged the retelling of the 1937 animated classic into the culture wars, potentially threatening its box office performance. The big-budget adaptation of Walt Disney’s original princess story has been in the works since 2016, following a string of box-office successes with similar live-action remakes of Disney animated films, including Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella and The Jungle Book.

The Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb agreed to helm a live-action musical version of the movie that would update the fairy tale for contemporary audiences.

The project, with an estimated budget of $270 million, has become mired in the nation’s divisions over race, the 2024 election and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Disney declined to comment for this story.

“Snow White looms as a Hollywood case study of how the world can change under your feet,” wrote Richard Rushfield, editorial director of the entertainment industry newsletter The Ankler. “It approaches the finish line having collected more scandals, brouhahas and issues than some studios see in a decade.” Snow White landed in what Rushfield described as the “culture war crosshairs” – a place it had worked to avoid since 2022 when it became embroiled in a dispute with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over a legislative effort to limit classroom discussion of sexuality and gender issues. The film, like Disney’s 2023 live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, attracted backlash for casting a person of colour in the lead role. Disney’s selection of Rachel Zegler, an actor of Colombian descent, for the title role, prompted some online critics to deride the project as ‘Snow Woke.’

The 23-year-old Zegler fanned some of the controversy.

The actor antagonized Trump supporters with a series of temporary Instagram stories posted after the 2024 election, condemning those who voted for the president-elect.