Rachel Zegler Soars Above Marvel At Box Office Despite Fan Backlash

Rachel Zegler and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes have officially overtaken Marvel Studios’ most recent feature film, The Marvels, at both the domestic and international box offices, in spite of months of backlash against the future Snow White star.

Two years after she broke through to global audiences in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story (2021), Rachel Zegler is poised to take over some of the world’s biggest franchises. In addition to starring in the prequel reboot of The Hunger Games, Zegler was cast as the titular character in the upcoming live-action remake of Snow White, the first and arguably most iconic of all Disney films.

However, there has been a shockingly high level of backlash and fan vitriol against Rachel Zegler for both Snow White and The Hunger Games, with many predicting that both movies will crash and burn at the box office. Now, it turns out that, at least, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is in no danger of flopping and, in fact, just soundly defeated the once-invincible Marvel Studios at the box office.

Related: Rachel Zegler Breaks Silence, Clarifies ‘Snow White’ Comments

The Marvels, starring Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani, was a major commercial disappointment for the studio, even after anemic box office performances from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). After grossing $202 million, it was pulled from theaters after a mere four-week run, ultimately becoming the lowest-grossing Marvel movie to date. The Marvels grossed approximately $83 million domestically and $119 million internationally (per Box Office Mojo).

In contrast, the new Hunger Games movie, starring Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, Hunter Schafer, and Viola Davis, performed much more strongly than early predictions and has easily out-grossed The Marvels in both categories, with relatively low dropoff over time. To date, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes has grossed $136 million domestically and $122 million internationally, for a total of $259 million (per Box Office Mojo).

Notably, the new Hunger Games movie is still in its theatrical run, meaning that it will only continue to extend its victory over Marvel Studios. For a franchise that has been dormant since The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015) and had to reckon with the loss of its lead actor, Jennifer Lawrence.

Related: ‘Hunger Games’ Prequel Divides Critics, Rachel Zegler Delivers “Powerhouse Performance”

The success of The Hunger Games prequel is a powerful indicator that all the online criticism of Rachel Zegler might not have the real-world effect that many expect. If Lucy Gray Baird can outperform The Marvels, who knows what Snow White can do?

Do you think Snow White will flop in theaters? Let us hear your thoughts in the comments below!

This post is originally appeared on Inside the Magic.