Disney’s long-anticipated live-action “Snow White” remake is now being described as a financial misfire, with reports indicating the film generated losses approaching $170 million.
According to FOX Business and filings highlighted by Forbes, the production carried an enormous price tag of $336.5 million.
The disclosures became public because the movie was shot in the United Kingdom, where tax incentives require detailed spending reports. To qualify, Disney created a subsidiary, Hidden Heart Productions, which ultimately revealed the scale of the film’s budget.
Caroline Reid noted that by July 31, 2022, Disney had already spent $183.3 million, even though principal photography had only recently wrapped. The most recent filings, covering the period through Dec. 31, 2024, offered what she described as an almost complete accounting of the movie’s costs.
The final total placed the remake above the budgets of several major Disney titles, including Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the studio’s live-action Beauty and the Beast, which went on to gross $1.3 billion in 2017.
A U.K. government reimbursement of $64.9 million reduced the net cost to $271.6 million, but the financial relief did little to change the outcome.
“The U.K. government also gave Snow White a magic touch as it reimbursed $64.9 million (£52.3 million) of the movie’s costs. This brought its net expenses down to $271.6 million but even that wasn’t enough to give it a happy ending in theaters,” Reid wrote.
Industry estimates suggest theaters typically retain about half of ticket sales. Using that model, Disney would have received roughly $102.9 million from the film’s box office run, leading to a calculated loss of $168.7 million after expenses.
Beyond its financial troubles, the project was mired in public controversy.
Actor Peter Dinklage criticized the remake in 2022 as a “f—— backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together,” despite what he described as progressive casting choices.
Disney initially responded by replacing the dwarfs with multiracial, gender-mixed “magical creatures,” but later reverted to computer-animated versions resembling those in the original animated film.
Lead actress Rachel Zegler also drew backlash for criticizing the 1937 classic and posting political remarks on social media, including “May Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace,” followed by “F— Donald Trump.”
After years of delays, debate, and ballooning costs, the remake’s theatrical run has ended not with a fairy-tale triumph but with a sizable financial loss for the studio.
