Disney (and others) at the Box Office - Current State of Affairs

[Tha Realest]

The irony is that you’re actually agreeing with those who claim that race is a major factor in why people object to Zegler’s casting (which I think is true) and why they’re staying away from the film (which I don’t think is true).

You’re conflating a few things. Race =\= ethnicity. By her own description*, Zegler identifies as a White Latina. In this construction, White would be her race, and Latina her reference to her Hispanic ethnicity (under the U.S. Census formulation).

* I think context is important - Zegler was describing herself as a White Latina in a conversation with Ariana DeBose, and the two were speaking from their experiences as a White Latina (Zegler’s formulation) and DeBose’s experiences as a Black Latina (again, Zegler’s formulation).

 

[Disstevefan1]

Looking forward to this.
A fun and probably low cost movie to make and will probably make money.

 

[coffeefan]

 

[coffeefan]

 

[Disney Irish]

You’re conflating a few things. Race =\= ethnicity. By her own description*, Zegler identifies as a White Latina. In this construction, White would be her race, and Latina her reference to her Hispanic ethnicity (under the U.S. Census formulation).

* I think context is important - Zegler was describing herself as a White Latina in a conversation with Ariana DeBose, and the two were speaking from their experiences as a White Latina (Zegler’s formulation) and DeBose’s experiences as a Black Latina (again, Zegler’s formulation).

Except she is of mixed race, so its not just self-identification. She is both White being Polish and Latina being Colombian.

For the last 25 years the Census has allowed mixed race identification for ethnicity.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I have a feeling that all this brouhaha could actually end up helping rather than harming her career.

I have a feeling that behind the scenes Disney is begging its actors to be quiet right now, a couple papers (NYP, DailyMail, other right leaning) are already reporting about backlash to Pedro’s remarks supporting her. The last thing Disney needs right now is this getting any mainstream press and F4 getting embroiled in controversy also.

Forbes had an article about Zeglers lack of upcoming projects, contrasting how odd it is that she’s got huge name recognition and nothing booked beyond Evita on stage. I think her big budget movie career is over, there’s hundreds (probably thousands) of equally talented actors who can act and sing that don’t come with her baggage at this point. I think she’ll have a bright career in theater and indie roles but I think she’s too toxic for starring roles in future major projects.

 

[Disney Irish]

I have a feeling that behind the scenes Disney is begging its actors to be quiet right now, a couple papers (NYP, DailyMail, other right leaning) are already reporting about backlash to Pedro’s remarks supporting her. The last thing Disney needs right now is this getting any mainstream press and F4 getting embroiled in controversy also.

Forbes had an article about Zeglers lack of upcoming projects, contrasting how odd it is that she’s got huge name recognition and nothing booked beyond Evita on stage. I think her big budget movie career is over, there’s hundreds (probably thousands) of equally talented actors who can act and sing that don’t come with her baggage at this point. I think she’ll have a bright career in theater and indie roles but I think she’s too toxic for starring roles in future major projects.

As the saying goes, never say never. Given enough time (however long that may be) I think she'll work on a major project again. There are many actors who were once labeled as "unhirable" that reemerged to have a "revived" career. For example Will Smith after the "slap heard around the world" (which I think is way worse than anything Zelger did) was deemed "unhirable", and yet a few years later and he has been in a few projects including two Bad Boys sequels that did fairly well, and is listed as potential on several upcoming projects including a Michael Bay film for Netflix.

So I wouldn't count her as having a career that is finished by any means.

 

[Chi84]

I have a feeling that behind the scenes Disney is begging its actors to be quiet right now, a couple papers (NYP, DailyMail, other right leaning) are already reporting about backlash to Pedro’s remarks supporting her. The last thing Disney needs right now is this getting any mainstream press and F4 getting embroiled in controversy also.

Forbes had an article about Zeglers lack of upcoming projects, contrasting how odd it is that she’s got huge name recognition and nothing booked beyond Evita on stage. I think her big budget movie career is over, there’s hundreds (probably thousands) of equally talented actors who can act and sing that don’t come with her baggage at this point. I think she’ll have a bright career in theater and indie roles but I think she’s too toxic for starring roles in future major projects.

My guess is that a year from now people either won’t remember what she said or will feel differently about it.

In either case she’ll be fine.

 

[coffeefan]

If Rachel was just a pretty face I'd agree, but she has a lot more going for her. She's talented and very dedicated to improving her craft. Also her "controversial" views are very mainstream with her generation (gen-z and gen alpha) so I think with time she will be fine.

 

[TP2000]

I think her big budget movie career is over, there’s hundreds (probably thousands) of equally talented actors who can act and sing that don’t come with her baggage at this point. I think she’ll have a bright career in theater and indie roles but I think she’s too toxic for starring roles in future major projects.

I agree. I don't think we'll see her in any big budget, major studio movies for quite awhile, if ever again. Which is a shame for her because everything I've read here says she has genuine talent and skill, both acting and singing.

She could have been the new Hollywood It Girl for the latter 2020's. But alas, she did herself in on that.

I'm still baffled that Disney let her go on with her shockingly bad public statements for as long as they did. You would think they would have muzzled her ASAP and then wrapped her in bubble wrap for the rest of the run.

Perhaps this is because Disney, like many big companies that went Woke in the past decade, openly talk about allowing employees to "Bring Their Real, Best Self To The Workplace" and other such claptrap that is mostly just code for abandoning traditional standards and practices of professionalism and manners in the workplace, all in order to lower labor costs and expand the labor pool for themselves.

It's just a shame that Miss Zegler's "Real, Best Self" is so unlikable, smug, and off-putting to so many potential customers.

 

[LittleBuford]

You’re conflating a few things. Race =\= ethnicity. By her own description*, Zegler identifies as a White Latina. In this construction, White would be her race, and Latina her reference to her Hispanic ethnicity (under the U.S. Census formulation).

* I think context is important - Zegler was describing herself as a White Latina in a conversation with Ariana DeBose, and the two were speaking from their experiences as a White Latina (Zegler’s formulation) and DeBose’s experiences as a Black Latina (again, Zegler’s formulation).

I wasn’t conflating anything, and your post has nothing to do with my point. By your definition, @TP2000 (who inexplicably liked your post) is wrong to say that Zegler represents an instance of “race swapping”, since her race is white. If you object to the terminology in question, take it up with him.

 

[LittleBuford]

I have a feeling that behind the scenes Disney is begging its actors to be quiet right now, a couple papers (NYP, DailyMail, other right leaning) are already reporting about backlash to Pedro’s remarks supporting her. The last thing Disney needs right now is this getting any mainstream press and F4 getting embroiled in controversy also.

Forbes had an article about Zeglers lack of upcoming projects, contrasting how odd it is that she’s got huge name recognition and nothing booked beyond Evita on stage. I think her big budget movie career is over, there’s hundreds (probably thousands) of equally talented actors who can act and sing that don’t come with her baggage at this point. I think she’ll have a bright career in theater and indie roles but I think she’s too toxic for starring roles in future major projects.

You may well be right. I honestly have no idea. The next few years should be revealing.

 

[TP2000]

The overseas box office from Snow White's second weekend is now in, right down to the very last Pound, Yen and Krona. Overseas is at roughly $76 Million, to the USA's $68 Million. That means the domestic box office is running at roughly 90% of the overseas box office. A very weak overseas showing, especially compared to previous live action remakes.

Assuming that, best case, the domestic gets to $125 Million by the first of May, that would put the overseas final tally at $139 Million, or a global total of $264 Million.

Or, worst case, if the domestic only gets to $100 Million by the first of May, that would put the overseas tally at $111 Million. For a global box office total of $211 Million. So....

Best Case Snow White: Production $270, Marketing $100, Domestic $75, Overseas $56 = $239 Million Loss
Worst Case Snow White: Production $270, Marketing $100, Domestic $60, Overseas $44 = $266 Million Loss

 

[TP2000]

I wasn’t conflating anything, and your post has nothing to do with my point. By your definition, @TP2000 (who inexplicably liked your post) is wrong to say that Zegler represents an instance of “race swapping”, since her race is white. If you object to the terminology in question, take it up with him.

There seems to be some confusion, which is natural, because the US Census got thrown into the mix.

The US Census does not classify Latino or Hispanic as a "race", it is an ethnic sub-category that can be applied to an actual race like White or Black. I went back and checked and it's as I remembered; on the 2020 US Census forms, the only five options for "Race" were White, Black, American Indian, Alaska Native, or Asian (with a few specific options for Asians as that's incredibly broad, from Korea to Tonga to Pakistan).

But that topic is rather technical and down in the weeds. In the real world I've lived in, 99% of folks (at least in the Southwest USA the past few decades) define Latino or Hispanic as a race, when very technically it is not.

Similarly, I have still never heard anyone say they were "White Latino" in a sentence, just as I have never heard anyone say they are "White Black". And also much like I have never heard any actual Latino claim they were "Latinx"; that last one is apparently only used by white ladies chatting in the faculty lounge or in an HR conference room. Or occasionally Gavin Newsom.

 

[LittleBuford]

There seems to be some confusion

Not on my part.

 

[TP2000]

Not on my part.

Well, you're one step ahead of me, and the US Census!

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

As the saying goes, never say never. Given enough time (however long that may be) I think she'll work on a major project again. There are many actors who were once labeled as "unhirable" that reemerged to have a "revived" career. For example Will Smith after the "slap heard around the world" (which I think is way worse than anything Zelger did) was deemed "unhirable", and yet a few years later and he has been in a few projects including two Bad Boys sequels that did fairly well, and is listed as potential on several upcoming projects including a Michael Bay film for Netflix.

So I wouldn't count her as having a career that is finished by any means.

Anything’s possible but I don’t think her “potential box office draw” is anywhere close to Will Smiths, he also benefits from having a lot of big name films in his history that could lead to sequels. Bad Boys without Smith and Lawrence isn’t really bad boys, they could recast it but that would seriously limit the box office, Zeglers only real hope at a sequel is another Hunger Games, which seems unlikely since it’s a quickly depreciation franchise.

She could absolutely bounce back, I think it’s more likely Hollywood finds the next “new” actor without the baggage and just moves on though.

 

[Chi84]

Anything’s possible but I don’t think her “potential box office draw” is anywhere close to Will Smiths, he also benefits from having a lot of big name films in his history that could lead to sequels. Bad Boys without Smith and Lawrence isn’t really bad boys, they could recast it but that would seriously limit the box office, Zeglers only real hope at a sequel is another Hunger Games, which seems unlikely since it’s a quickly depreciation franchise.

She could absolutely bounce back, I think it’s more likely Hollywood finds the next “new” actor without the baggage and just moves on though.

People cared a lot more about Will Smith and what he did. Slapping Chris Rock for no reason seemed insane.

Not many people care all that much about Zegler. In fact, I’m starting to think no one cares about her more than you for some odd reason

 

[brideck]

Zeglers only real hope at a sequel is another Hunger Games, which seems unlikely since it’s a quickly depreciation franchise.

The brand-new Hunger Games book (which just sold 1.5m copies in its first week of publication, more than twice that of any other book in the series) already has a release date for its movie adaptation -- Nov 20, 2026. To the topic at hand, though, it's set ~40 years after Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, so it certainly won't star Rachel Zegler.

 

[Disney Irish]

Anything’s possible but I don’t think her “potential box office draw” is anywhere close to Will Smiths, he also benefits from having a lot of big name films in his history that could lead to sequels. Bad Boys without Smith and Lawrence isn’t really bad boys, they could recast it but that would seriously limit the box office, Zeglers only real hope at a sequel is another Hunger Games, which seems unlikely since it’s a quickly depreciation franchise.

She could absolutely bounce back, I think it’s more likely Hollywood finds the next “new” actor without the baggage and just moves on though.

The point is that the public seems to have largely forgiven him, and he was able to come back from an even worse issue. So to say that she can't for what amount to a lesser offense seems to put a double standard where one doesn't need to exist.

The public has a real short term memory for this stuff, in time they will forgive and forget about this too. Most actors with talent always seem to find a way back after a scandal, its only those with no talent that end up getting past over (and complain loudly when they do). And by all account she is talented, so I have no doubt in my mind that she recover from this just like those before her.