The latest drought plaguing the box office has only been relieved somewhat by Disney’s “Snow White,” which earned $16 million from 4,200 theaters on its opening day and is earning a tepid $48 million opening weekend.
That result meets pre-release projections of a $45-50 million launch for the movie, but “Snow White” will need remarkable legs to break even theatrically against its $250 million-plus budget before marketing costs.
The possibility of that is decreasing as early audience reception for the film, while skewing positive, is less enthusiastic than for past films in the Disney remake series. Most notably, the film has earned a B+ on CinemaScore, marking the first time that a Disney remake polled by CinemaScore did not earn an A- or higher from opening day moviegoers.
Meanwhile, early Rotten Tomatoes scores stand at 44% critics and 71% audience. By comparison, the 2023 remake of “The Little Mermaid” stands at 67% critics and 94% audience, while “Mufasa,” which turned a lackluster $35 million domestic opening into a successful $253 million North American total this past holiday season, stands at 57% critics and 89% audience.
Next weekend will reveal whether “Snow White” will have a long theatrical life, as it will be the last weekend where it will have no family or premium format competition before Warner Bros.’ “A Minecraft Movie” is released.
But for now, “Snow White” is the only film that is even grossing more than $5 million this weekend, making up more than half of the estimated overall total of $82 million. Holdovers make up the rest of the top 5.
What hasn’t made the top 5 is Warner Bros.’ “The Alto Knights,” a $50 million crime drama starring Robert De Niro that is bombing with an opening weekend of just $3 million from 2,651 theaters. That’s below the $3.7 million third weekend of another Warner misfire, “Mickey 17,” which has grossed $40 million domestically so far and is just now crossing the $100 million global mark against a reported $118 million production budget.
Based on the lives of real-life crime bosses Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, “The Alto Knights” isn’t impressing critics with a 39% Rotten Tomatoes score.
