Three different live-action remakes of animated films have been released in 2025 so far, and the box office and reception forSnow Whitehave made it the least successful of them all. While there are reasons towatchSnow Whitenow that it is on Disney+, the filmfailed to draw audiences to the cinemas andattracted ire online for various reasons, including the depictions of the dwarves and comments from star Rachel Zegler. Unfortunately, this all resulted in a loss for Disney that has become more significant after the release of a recent film.
Live-action remakes are a strange beast, and gauging their prospective success can be hard. WhileDisney still has many live-action remakesin the works,they are questioning their methods after several big hits and several big misses. This reassessment haspaused production on aTangledremake, among others. While more remakes are certainly likely to come in the future, Disney, as well as the other studios that have dipped their toes into the trend, like Universal, will have to learn a few important lessons from some other recent films.
Snow White Is The Lowest-Grossing 2025 Live-Action Remake After How To Train Your Dragon Beat It
The Difference Will Continue To Grow
Despite carrying the biggest budget of the three,Snow Whiterecently became the lowest-grossing live-action remake of 2025 after being quickly passed by the release ofHow to Train Your Dragon.Snow Whiteonly reaped a worldwide total of $205.6 million, which did not even come close to earning back its estimated $240-270 million budget, allowingHow to Train Your Dragonto pass it in only a few days. Thebox office forHow to Train Your Dragonis already strong, with the film currently having earned $218 million in only its first five days of release.
The box office successes ofLilo & StitchandHow to Train Your Dragonare even more impressive due to their budgets.Lilo & Stitchwas made for a reported $100 million, whileHow to Train Your Dragoncost an estimated $150 million.
Following the excellent box office run forLilo & Stitch,Snow Whiteis by far the lowest earner of the three.WhileLilo & Stitchmay not earn a billion-dollar global gross, it will certainly come close. Considering thatStitchwas originally planned to be a streaming release, whileSnow Whitewas hoped to be one of the biggest films of the year, it is clear that the approach to these remakes will need to be readjusted. While not everyone has lovedLilo & Stitch, there is no denying that the film has been able to garner a significant audience.
Snow White Was Always Likely To Have The Lowest Box Office Among 2025’s Live-Action Remakes
Even If It Was A Hit
Fresh off of the incredible success ofThe Jungle Bookin 2016, Disney first began work on a live-actionSnow Whiteremake. While this seemed like a good idea at the time, especially following the excellent responses to Kenneth Branagh’s 2015Cinderella, things have changed in the intervening years. Thebox office for live-action Disney remakeshas softened, withthe adaptations of older properties not garnering as much attention. With each passing year, the prospects forSnow Whiteseemed to grow worse.
When the first look atSnow Whitecaused controversy over the CGI, things looked even worse for the picture.Snow Whitewas delayed by a year due to plans for reshoots that were affected by the SAG-AFTRA strikes, and audiences lost whatever little faith they had in the film. There wound up being a very low ceiling for whatSnow Whitewas likely to gross in the end, but various controversies surrounding the film, followed by a truncated press tour, contributed to little interest, resulting in shockingly few people going to see it in cinemas.
Disney’s Live-Action Remake Loss Is Worse In 2025
The Climate For Live-Action Remakes Is Beginning To Change
In the past, live-action remakes of animated classics were almost exclusively a Disney project. Now, however, it seems that other studios are looking for a piece of that same pie. While there have been many notable films based on cartoons in the past,How to Train Your Dragonisthe first live-action remake from Universal and DreamWorks, and may begin a trend for the studio. While not every DreamWorks film could make the jump to live-action, with some, likeMadagascar, being a poor fit for the format, they do have several properties that could be successfully exploited in this way.
Snow Whitewas a big failure for the studio, but it also does not feel like a true anomaly after the underperformance of films likeThe Little Mermaid.
Asequel toHow to Train Your Dragonhas been announced, and various other films are also likely to be remade, biting into Disney’s market share.Disney has already remade most of their most popular films, whereas other producers like DreamWorks have a large libraryof hits to pull from. Live-action remakes of films includingThe Boss BabyandShrekfeel almost inevitable from DreamWorks, and other studios like Illumination will certainly throw their hat in the ring eventually with remakes ofThe Secret Life of PetsandDespicable Me.
Disney’s live-action remakes are in an important state of reconsideration, butthe difficulties for the studio within this genre will only increase in the years ahead.Snow Whitewas a big failure for the studio, but it also does not feel like a true anomaly after the underperformance of films likeThe Little Mermaid.The future looks bright for other animation studios to begin making remakesof their own enormous films, but Disney’s time in the sun, despite hits likeLilo & Stitch, may be coming to an end when it comes to live-action remakes.
