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   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   It seemed almost impossible, even to "Snow White" remake critics like   
   myself, that it might fail to crack $200 million at the box office. Yet if   
   the movie does cross that threshold, it will be by the skin of Quigg's   
   teeth.   
      
   Quigg is apparently a character in the new live-action version. I only   
   know this because I checked IMDB for characters who weren't in the   
   original, making me one of maybe 12 people who weren't involved in the   
   production who know there's a Quigg.   
      
   In its fifth weekend on screens, "Snow White" earned about $7 million in   
   ticket sales domestically and internationally, bringing the total box   
   office take to an estimated $194 million. The film cost an estimated $270   
   million (after tax credits!) plus another $70-$100 million to market and   
   probably needs $625 million, after theaters take their cut, just to break   
   even.   
      
   Oof.   
      
   While "Snow White" floundered, Disney announced that the live-action   
   remake of "Tangled" was "on hold." While not officially canceled, the   
   studio has given zero indication when or even if development will resume.   
      
   In box office terms, live-action remakes aren't any different from any   
   other genre. Some do well, some break even, some (like "Snow White") flop.   
   Creatively, though, each one reveals Hollywood's creative bankruptcy, just   
   as much as the endless parade of superhero movies (and their diminishing   
   returns, financially and creatively) does.   
      
   Worse, live-action remakes are unnecessary. Animation has a timeless,   
   netherworld charm to it that photorealistic CGI animals and dwarves simply   
   can't.   
      
   For all the online chatter, "Snow White" could have done much better, and   
   just a handful of different decisions made early in the movie's production   
   would have made all the difference.   
      
   First, a flick like "Snow White" has no business costing $320 million to   
   produce, even if a $50 million UK tax credit brought Disney's cost down to   
   $270 million. But a movie musical shouldn't be a third-of-a-billion-   
   dollars extravaganza, particularly not one aimed at the Disney princess   
   set. The live-action Snow White reboot should have been a $125 million   
   movie.   
      
   All Disney had to do was hire some real dwarves instead of those demented   
   CGI escapees from the Uncanny Valley. They could have used practical sets   
   instead of a green-screen-heavy production that star Rachel Zegler, in   
   particular, seemed ill at ease with. Maybe they could have insisted on a   
   script that didn't go all-in on Woke (reportedly before the rewrites) and   
   socialism for the reshoots.   
      
   Finally, Disney could have avoided the bad press by getting back to doing   
   what movie studios used to do for every release: keep the actors tightly   
   scripted during all appearances (now including online) until the picture   
   is on the silver screens. Reportedly, Snow White's budget-busting reshoots   
   were needed to plug holes blasted out of the script by Zegler's off-script   
   remarks.   
      
   The film might still have sucked, but at least it would have cost a   
   reasonable amount to produce and not had so much bad buzz going for more   
   than a year before its release.   
      
   Shoot a kiddie flick that doesn't suck for $125 million, promote it for   
   another $50 million, then count the profits as "Snow White" soars to a   
   $400 or even $500 million box office.   
      
   Or — please hear me out — take the original, spend a few million cleaning   
   up the print and punching up the score for multichannel sound, and   
   rerelease it to audiences hungry for quality family entertainment.   
      
   Maybe that sounds crazy, but is it any less crazy than spending close to   
   $400 million on a $200 million flop?   
      
   https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2025/04/21/how-big-did-snow-white-really-   
   bomb-this-big-n4939095   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)