Snow White suffers from being 'too woke' but that's not the only thing pulling it down

Snow White has underperformed at the box office and experts are now trying to analyse what went wrong. The film has been surrounded by controversies of different natures since it was announced.

The musical fantasy is a live-action adaptation of the 1937 animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The official synopsis of the film reads:

"A princess joins forces with seven dwarfs to liberate her kingdom from her cruel stepmother the Evil Queen."

Experts are now looking into the reasons why the film did not do well at the box office. So let us find out the details.

Various things have pulled down Snow White

A still from Snow White (Image via YouTube/Disney)

Snow White saw an opening weekend of $43 million at the box office. Besides, this film has also received mostly mixed critical response, with a 42% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a 1.7/10 rating on IMDb. Newsweek reached out to several experts to analyze the film's fate which goes beyond the idea of it being 'too woke.'

Daniel Loria, Senior Vice President of Content Strategy and Editorial Director of the Box Office Company revealed that the controversies around the film are the only part of the problem. He said:

"I think it's part of a number of factors that didn't let the film break out."

He acknowledged that Snow White is a remake of a film that came out 88 years ago, which will have its own set of challenges. Loria also pointed out that the film was not marketed properly, which might have contributed to its box office figures. The makers barred press access at its premiere, further dousing the buzz.

Jeff Bock, who works as an analyst, told the press that mixed critical reviews and all the negativity over the years might have contributed to the film's box office performance. He further said that people aren't resonating with the story:

"Snow White hasn't exactly aged well. The story itself is a bit outdated and certainly doesn't have the hero factor of, say, Moana or Frozen. These are the types of Disney stories that current audiences gravitate towards. Snow White's expiration date was decades ago, unfortunately."

Other factors that might have contributed to Snow White's failure

Loria also noted that the moviegoing industry might be a contributing factor. He said that the films tend to struggle after the Christmas phase. Media analyst, Paul Dergarabedian, also believes that the audiences might be fatigued with live-action adaptation coming up in a short period. He said:

"Snow White as a PG rated family film still had baked in appeal for kids and families looking for a new Disney movie to enjoy at the multiplex, but no question a bit of live action re-make fatigue coupled with the negative impact the politically charged controversy had on marketing efforts plus mixed reviews offered up a whole unwanted set of challenges for the film."

The controversies around the film began with the casting of Rachel Zegler, which was followed by her calling the original film "outdated." Zegler's political views on Donald Trump and the Israeli-Palestine conflict also sparked backlash on the internet.

The film stars Rachel Zegler as Snow White, Gal Gadot as Evil Queen, Andrew Burnap, Ansu Kabia, Patrick Page, and Hadley Fraser among others.