There's More to Disney Than Snow White This Year

It's not what Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) was hoping for, but Snow White's lackluster theatrical debut over the weekend still leaves room for shareholders to go from Grumpy to Happy. The film grossed $43 million in domestic ticket sales and $87 million worldwide. Industry watchers were targeting at least $100 million in global box office receipts, and that figure had been pared back in recent months.

The market's first take on the live-action reboot's debut wasn't a dealbreaker. Disney shares actually moved higher on Monday, closing above $100 for just the second time in the past two weeks. It was a generally buoyant day for stocks, but for the media giant's shares to rise despite a potential matinee misfire is a good sign that investors are looking beyond this film. This is still likely to be a good year for Disney's studio business. You just have to disregard the occasional poisoned apple.

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Some day my prints will come

Snow White reportedly cost a hefty $250 million to make, and that's before marketing and distribution costs. Disney will probably have to take a sizable financial hit on the the production once all of the beans have been counted. Optimists can point to Mufasa: The Lion King that came out three months ago to an even softer debut, and it still managed a fairytale ending. It collected just $35.4 million in stateside ticket sales for its opening weekend, only to top $719 million worldwide by the end of its cinematic run. Still, that's the exception and not the rule when an established franchise faceplants out of the starting gate.

Unfortunately for Disney, Snow White became a battleground stock. Remakes often take liberties with the original storyline, and the changes to this one didn't please some Disney purists. Changing the ethnicity of the lead character also brought some complaints, but that strategy didn't hurt in 2023, when The Little Mermaid got the live action treatment. But that updated film opened more than twice as strong as Snow White, capping off its multiplex turn with global sales of nearly $570 million.

The two main actresses also had some of their more polarizing past comments amplified anew on social media, but that doesn't paint a fair picture. The film is clicking with those actually watching it, rather than those who are blasting it with no intention of actually checking it out. A robust 74% of audience members on Rotten Tomatoes recommend Snow White. It also has a respectable B+ grade from CinemaScore, a platform that polls moviegoers as they leave a showing, unlike many of the sites where trolls can bash a film without transparency or having actually seen the flick.

Image source: Disney.

The silly song

Disney owned your corner movie theater's marquee last year. The House of Mouse put out all three of the world's highest-grossing movies in 2024. This year it has stumbled. February's Captain America: Brave New World is the country's top draw in 2025, with $192 million at the box office four weeks into its run. The previous installment, Captain America: Civil War, had more than doubled that domestic haul at that point in its release nine years ago. It's somehow the country's strongest release in 2025, but that title isn't likely to last.

Cinema operators are off to another soft start. Domestic year-to-date sales are 6% lower from last year at this point, down 15% from 2023's pace. Even with screening prices inching higher, box office receipts are more than 25% below pre-pandemic levels. Things are so bad this year that Snow White's disappointing U.S. debut is actually second only to Captain America: Brave New World.

More than half of all tickets sold this past weekend were for Snow White. The other major premiere was The Alto Knights, and the even presence of Robert De Niro couldn't spare it from a jaw-dropping $3.2 million in weekend ticket sales. How bad must things be if the studio that has put out this year's two biggest domestic releases is coming under fire?

The good news is that better days are coming.

Non-Disney potential blockbusters include A Minecraft Movie next month, followed by Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning a month later. You can expect big numbers from 2025 installments in the Jurassic World, Superman, and Wicked franchises. Disney itself is packing plenty of ammo for later this year. For one thing, May's Lilo & Stitch live-action makeover isn't getting the same kind of flak as Snow White. There are also a pair of Marvel releases, a new Pixar film, and some strong potential performers in the proven Zootopia, Tron, and Freaky Friday properties. However, it would be shocking if the highest-grossing film across all studios isn't Avatar: Fire and Ash. Disney's third release in this franchise won't open until December, but the first two entries rank among the three highest-grossing films of all time.

Snow White may wind up with a long tail and fade to black in more ways than one. One of the new songs written for the film can trigger the Encanto effect. But even if the film ends up being a miss, it's encouraging to see a strong pipeline of content that could draw Disney fans back to the local multiplex.

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Rick Munarriz has positions in Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.