Disney’s Snow White has recently received the delayed treatment – and this could possibly be to the movie’s benefit. As the SAG-AFTRA strikes continue, Disney has decided to impose a massive delay on the live-action remake of the classic story. While originally slated for a Spring 2024 release, the strikes compelled Disney to push Snow White‘s release date back to a Spring 2025 release instead. While this decision may have caught some off guard, it could be a blessing in disguise after the underwhelming performance of The Little Mermaid.
With The Little Mermaid only grossing $500 million against a budget of $300 million, the studio is likely going to use the additional time from the delay to reassess things for its new Disney live-action movie remake. Additionally, it should give the company time to recoup its losses via streaming and The Little Mermaid‘s home media release. With so much time between now and Snow White‘s release, Disney has a significant careful plan and avoid repeating the same mistakes as before and make sure the upcoming film can succeed both critically and financially, which has not always happened in this new series of live-action remakes.
Snow White’s Release Date Delay Gives Disney More Time To Reflect On The Little Mermaid’s Problems
While the inherent risk associated with live-action movies largely lies in people’s nostalgic feelings for the original projects, live-action adaptations and remakes of classic stories have worked before. 2014’s Maleficent and 2016’s The Jungle Book performed exceptionally well at the box office, and many of the positive reviews were directed at the film’s respect for the source material while also finding interesting ways to innovate. In the case of more recent live-action remakes like Mulan and The Little Mermaid, the criticisms were just as bad as their box office earnings.
Marred with a series of controversies, The Little Mermaid fought an uphill battle from the beginning. However, Snow White can use the additional year to achieve a stronger box office result by using that time to reevaluate elements from the movie’s production and ensure as much faithfulness to the original story as possible. Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding the casting of the seven dwarves seems to imply that Disney will not have an easy task with its new live-action adaptation.
What Snow White Needs To Learn From The Little Mermaid’s Box Office Performance
The Little Mermaid‘s underwhelming box office performance was the result of a few different factors, but the one-year delay for Snow White should theoretically give the company plenty of time to reinvent itself for the better. The concerns surrounding the CGI depictions of the seven dwarves are something that Disney has reportedly listened to and promised to address properly during the delays. If this proves to be true, it will show audiences that Disney is making more of a concerted effort to deliver the best possible movie. This includes a lot of elements, including visual effects.
Many of the issues regarding The Little Mermaid couldn’t be addressed as the movie was already slated for its summer 2023 release after the first few trailers. However, this unfortunate timing resulted in a failure to properly address one of the biggest concerns associated with the movie. For example, while many have expressed they would prefer for Disney to cast members of the dwarfism community as the seven dwarves, the ball is in their court to properly address the complaints and make a final decision regarding the characters.
Snow White’s Performance Is Crucial For Disney’s Live-Action Remake Future
With Disney’s recent emphasis on producing live-action remakes of their older catalog, it looks like audiences can expect to see these newer takes on the classic characters and tales. However, if Snow White bombs at the box office, it will be another consecutive failure for Disney, thus potentially derailing any future plans for live-action remakes. The possibilities are many, though. From Ratatouille to Frozen, there is no shortage of options for Disney’s next live-action remakes, yes it likely depends on how Snow White will do at the box office.
While things currently look shaky for Disney’s live-action future, Snow White has a lot of time to make all the right moves. Even if there has been a lot of controversy surrounding Snow White, a single trailer with evidence of Disney listening to the recent backlash could assuage everyone’s worries about it. Snow White is slated for a 2025 release, and hopefully, Disney will make the right moves during the movie’s delays.
