The live remake of Walt Disney of his classic 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Open in cinemas on Friday, dragged by controversies that brought the business back to the wars of culture – a director general of the Bob Iger fate tried to avoid.
snow White Actress Rachel Zegler faced online attacks by people who said that her Colombian heritage had made her unsuitable for this role. She aroused criticism for declaring that the original film was overwhelmed, and later for online articles on US President Donald Trump and his supporters – providing ammunition to “WOK” reviews Disney.
Meanwhile, Zegler and Gal Gadot, the Israeli actress who plays the nasty queen, are opposite sides of the Israel-Gaza conflict, creating an air of tension around the film.
Controversies seem to have worked the prospects of the box office for snow Whitewhich is estimated that it cost $ 270 million to win. “At the beginning, the projections of the opening weekend was much higher, but now fell to around $ 45 million at $ 50 million in the United States and perhaps $ 100 million worldwide,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
After a brief retreat, Iger returned to Disney in 2022 in the middle of a dispute with the Governor of Florida on gay and transgender issues. Since then, he has sought to reduce the political risk of the company, in particular by telling the filmmakers to easily go to social messaging. But the story of the Grimm brothers of the fate of a princess in the hands of a nasty queen resurrected controversies dating back to the creation of the film almost a decade ago.
Disney was in damage control mode. The company has restricted access to the media to the stars of the film during the first Hollywood last weekend, and it opted for the north of Spain instead of a splashing location like Leicester Square in London for its European deployment.
He sought to build an early buzz by promoting him twice during his D23 conferences for Disney Superfans, a safe space. Zegler has also made a promotional trip to Tokyo, where a large fans base is less concerned with “awake” politics.
“We cannot fight cultural wars,” said a Disney executive. “Everyone criticizing this film was never going to see this film. Disney is not going to change mind.”
Disney began to plan a live action version updated snow White in 2016. The company had found success refreshing other titles from his library, including 101 Dalmatians, Aladdin And The Jungle Book, who introduced old characters to new audiences – and has capitalized on proven stories he owned. Some have been blockbusters, including Alice in Wonderland in 2010 and Beauty and the beast In 2017, both brought back more than $ 1 billion each.
However, while the “awakened” reaction brought together force in recent years, another Disney remake has undergone a reaction similar to that of Zegler and snow White Now face. Halle Bailey, the black actress who played in the live version of the action of Siren Released in 2023, racist taunts faced angry fans that Ariel was not played by a white actress.
The company has long been a target on its positions on social issues. Southern Baptists launched a Disney boycott in 1997 after providing insurance services to employees of same -sex partners. But the pressure reached new levels of intensity in 2022 during the controversy “Don't Say Gay” in Florida.
THE business Released in opposition to a law restricting discussions on gay issues in public schools following the uproar of its state employees, where its Walt Disney World theme park makes it the largest employer in Florida. In response, Governor Ron Desantis, who labeled the company “Woke Disney”, has removed its ability to govern the area around its themed parks, as it had done since the 1960s.
Since then, Iger has sought to reduce political temperature. “We must first entertain. These are not messages,” he said at a conference in 2023.
Some inside the company have seen a link between changes in dramatic societal in recent years – from #MeToo and Black Lives Matter to the anti -reverse reaction – and the controversies that have swallowed up snow White. “Culture has moved under our feet” since the film was enlightened, said Disney's setting.
Given the age of snow White History and sensitivity around comic dwarfs as central characters, there would always be a risk involved in a remake. But the film had a solid cast: Zegler showed his voice in the well -made version of Steven Spielberg in 2021 of West Side StoryAnd Gadot was the star of Wonderful woman and other box office successes.
In an interview in 2022 with Vanity Fair, Zegler said that she had heard jokes about being in a “politically correct” version of snow White. “It is an 85-year-old cartoon, and our version is a refreshing story on a young woman who has a function beyond” one day my prince will come “,” she said, referring to the song of the 1937 version. Her comment according to which the prince “literally tracks down” the princess of the 1937 film also put older fans.
The same year, actor Peter Dinklage, who had a form of naism, attacked the project.
He said that the filmmakers were “very proud to launch a Latina actress” like Snow White “but you always tell the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ”. The filmmakers were still doing a “story behind the seven dwarfs living together in a cave,” he said on the WTF with Marc Maron Podcast. (Disney said that he had consulted “members of the community of Nanism” and planned a “different approach”.)
Then there is the conflict of Israel. Gadot, who served in the Israeli defense forces, publicly supported the country since he was attacked by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Zegler expressed his support for Palestine, including in a position on X after the publication of the snow White trailer that said: “And always remember, free Palestine.”
Critics have been mixed. The critic of the New York Times, Manohla Dargis, described it as “perfectly adequate” while labeling the criticism “a discouraging spectacle of bigotry and nonsense”. The New York Post said “Height-Ho-Hum” and gave it two stars. Financial Times Danny Leigh's review reward Third, saying that Zegler brings “spirit and zip”, but the film is “opposed to risk to the point of blandness”.
