How To Make A $13 Million Profit From Snow White

With costs of at least $269.4 million and global takings of just $145.7 million after 16 days in theaters, the post-mortems of Disney’s live action version of Snow White have already begun.

When the movie got the green light it seemed to have everything going for it. Fresh from her success in 2021’s West Side Story, Rachel Zegler was cast in the title role alongside Wonder Woman’s Gal Gadot playing the Evil Queen. Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell created breathtakingly-beautiful outfits for them and Spider-Man helmer Marc Webb took on the directing duties.

Snow White is arguably Disney’s most famous animated fairytale giving it immediate audience recognition. That heritage is doubtless a poisoned chalice because if the film had been a shot-for-shot remake of the original it would have been branded lazy and superfluous. Instead, Webb and his team decided to mix it up by deviating from the animated classic. That came with an inherent risk and, of course, so did Zegler’s many outbursts. However, none of that is what really made it tougher for the film to give Disney a happy ending financially.

The missing piece of Disney’s magic formula was cost containment. As this report revealed, Snow White blew its budget and although the pandemic played a role by delaying production, it was far from the only dark cloud. A fire which broke out on the set soon after shooting had begun didn’t help but the problem ran deeper than that.

Much has been made of the colossal costs of Disney’s productions. Even its chief executive Bob Iger remarked in 2023 that Disney needs to “reduce costs on everything that we make because, while we’re extremely proud of what’s on the screen, it’s gotten to a point where it’s extraordinarily expensive.”

If ever there was a film where the impact of this can be seen, it’s Snow White. That’s because just over a decade earlier, Universal released its own live action version of Snow White which earned similar reviews but had a far stronger start at the box office and, crucially ended up making a healthy profit.

That film was Snow White and the Huntsman starring Kristen Stewart as the eponymous princess, Chris Hemsworth as her prospective saviour and Charlize Theron as the antagonist. The similarities to Disney’s latest production are uncanny. Stewart joined on the back of the juggernaut that was Twilight whilst Theron was the established talent. Likewise, it deviated from the original story as Hemsworth doesn’t live happily ever after with the princess. It didn’t cast a spell on audiences.

Despite a strong story, gritty atmosphere, impressive effects and laudable performances across the board, surprisingly, the movie’s audience rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes was lower than the score for Disney’s Snow White with Universal’s movie at 52% and Disney’s film earning 73%. Both were certified rotten by critics and although Snow White’s score was lower than Snow White and the Huntsman’s tally, it was only 8 percentage points down at 40%.

However, this didn’t stop Snow White and the Huntsman hauling in an impressive $56.2 million domestically during its opening weekend, according to industry analyst Box Office Mojo. It is a staggering 33.2% higher than the domestic takings of Disney’s Snow White in its opening weekend.

Both movies were made in the United Kingdom and as this author has repeatedly reported, this shines a spotlight on the spending in a way which isn’t possible with productions in the United States. That’s because in the U.S., studios combine the cost of all of their movies and shows in their overall expenses and don’t itemize how much was spent on each one. In contrast, studios shooting in the U.K. set up companies to make each movie or show and they file financial statements which lift the curtain on everything from the staff numbers, salaries and social security payments to the total costs.

The Universal subsidiary behind Snow White and the Huntsman was called Dark Mirror Films in a nod to the way Theron’s character communicates with her adviser. Its financial statements reveal that the total cost of the movie came to $219.9 million (£140.5 million) which is a staggering 18.4% less than the amount Disney had booked on Snow White 15 months before it was released.

Dark Mirror Films also banked a $34.9 million (£22.3 million) fiscal incentive for filming in the U.K. which brought its net spending down to $185 million. Unlike the new Snow White movie, the Dark Mirror Films’ financial statements reveal that Snow White and the Huntsman “was within the agreed budget.”

Universal did not comment on the data in its filings or the share of the theater takings it received from Snow White and the Huntsman. Known in the trade as a rental fee, an indication of the typical share comes from film industry consultant Stephen Follows who interviewed 1,235 film professionals in 2014 and concluded that, according to studios, theaters keep 49% of the takings on average.

Snow White and the Huntsman grossed a total of $396.6 million putting an approximate 50% share at $198.3 million. Deducting the $185 million net spending from that left Universal with an estimated $13.3 million profit on the movie though that’s not the end of the story.

Its spellbinding success encouraged Universal to greenlight a sequel and that seemed to have everything going for it as the trio of stars from the first film signed up to return alongside Emily Blunt. However, director Rupert Sanders was notably absent after he had been caught cheating on his wife with Stewart.

French director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan took over and The Huntsman: Winter’s War was released in 2016. Its audience score fell to 45% with critics awarding it less than half that at just 20%. This was reflected in its box office which also fell by more than 50% to $165 million.

Again, it was made in the U.K., this time by Universal’s Huntsman Productions, and its financial statements show that the total cost of the picture came to $144.9 million (£96.1 million) which is “as anticipated”. A $29.4 million fiscal incentive brought the net spending on the film down to $115.5 million while a 50% share of the box office left the film with an estimated $33 million loss.

This bottom line doesn’t include any revenue from home entertainment or merchandising which both go to the studio. Likewise, it doesn’t include marketing costs as they are paid by the studio. It is simply based on the net spending by the film’s production company deducted from the share of ticket revenue for it. In the case of The Huntsman: Winter’s War the loss was enough to put an end to the series calling some to wonder whether Universal should have quit whilst it was ahead and stopped after the first film. Given the performance of its new movie, Disney could have done a lot worse than follow that advice with Snow White.