Menu

‘Snow White’ Remake May Be Most Expensive Movie Ever Made

'Snow White' needs a huge payday just to break even
Rachel Zegler on set. Credit: Disney
Disney's Marvel is in trouble

Credit: Disney/Marvel

Johnny Depp Orlando Bloom Pirates of the Caribbean

Credit: Disney

May 1 writers strike

Credit: Disney/Lucasfilm

There are very few people alive in the past few years who have yet to see (or at least heard of) Star Wars, the Avengers, Pirates of the Caribbean, or Avatar. In addition to their massive impact on pop culture, many of these movies were heavily marketed and had vast lines of clothing, toys, and other merchandise. And some became theme park attractions and spawned even more movies (or television shows).

Related: The Rachel Zegler and Disney’s ‘Snow White’ Controversy: Everything You Need to Know

Compared to Snow White (2025), Disney’s latest attempt at a live-action remake, the blockbuster films really don’t compare. However, the Walt Disney Company seems willing to roll the dice and up its current spending on Snow White.

Many Disney fans know the story by now. Whether they agree with it or not, the drastic changes the Walt Disney Company has made to the film have caused outrage.

According to a recent Forbes, for the Walt Disney Company to break even on the Snow White remake, the film will have to gross around $340 million worldwide.

Related: Conservative Company Makes Its Own ‘Snow White’ Movie

The Several Controversies

From the start, Snow White ran into controversy. Many Disney purists disagreed with casting Rachel Zegler as the fair-skinned Disney princess. Zegler, who formerly starred in West Side Story (2022), clapped back at critics in interviews and on social media, making the situation worse.

disney snow white rachel zegler

Credit: Rachel Zegler, Instagram

The controversies continued when a photo from the film leaked online showing that Disney decided to remove the seven dwarfs and replace them with “magical creatures.”

Snow White release delayed

Credit: Disney

Disney fans also jumped on Rachel Zegler when she said the prince in the original movie was a stalker and criticized the original 1937 film for being “extremely dated.” She also criticized the Disney theme park ride.

Related: Another Controversial Change Happening to Live Action ‘Snow White’

With the criticism and SAG-AFTRA strike, rumors that may cancel the movie entirely began to spread.

The Money to Film a New Snow White Movie

Recently, Disney has announced its plan to push the Snow White remake back another year to 2025. During this announcement, Disney also released an image of Rachel Zegler as Snow White surrounded by CGI dwarfs. This confused many since the “magical creatures” replacing the dwarfs appear gone. And in their place are new computer-animated images of Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Bashful, and Dopey.

Snow White release delayed

Credit: Disney

But Snow White was already on a path to being a costly motion picture with a price tag of $340 million. For comparison, Avengers: Infinity War (2018) cost Disney/Marvel $325 million.

Related: Disney Reveals Film That Will Replace ‘Snow White’ Release

However, if Disney plans to reshoot much of the movie with CGI dwarfs instead of live actors, that may also mean bringing Rachel Zegler back for some more scenes and green-screen work.

Seven Dwarfs Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Credit: Disney

Disney may invest another $100 million into Snow White, bringing its total to around $440 million. Granted, this is just a prediction. But currently, the most expensive movie ever made is Star Wars: The Force Awakens, at $447 million. The second place is Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom at $432 million, and the third is Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker at $416 million.

Related: A New Character Arrives at Walt Disney World

Even if the cost to reshoot and generate a whole movie with seven NEW CGI characters doesn’t quite bring the film to $440 million, it will still be a costly gamble for the Walt Disney Company.

About Steven

Steven has a complicated relationship with Disney. As a child, he visited Walt Disney World every few years with his family. But he never understood why kids his age (and older) were so scared of Snow White or Alien Encounter. He is a former participant of the Disney College Program (left early…long story), and he also previously worked in Children’s publishing, where he adapted multiple Disney movies and TV shows. He has many controversial opinions about Disney…like having a positive view of Michael Eisner, believing Return of the Jedi is superior to The Empire Strikes Back, and that Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge should have never been built (at least not at Hollywood Studios). Every year for the past two decades, Steven has visited either Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Aulani or went on a Disney Cruise. He’s happy to share any and all knowledge of the Disney destinations (and he likes using parenthesis a lot…as well as ellipses…)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.