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

[Casper Gutman]

Most of Zegler’s comments that I’ve seen were made at D23 to the companies like Extra or in interviews with traditional English-language publications. Are you confusing her with Mackie by chance?

You are correct about where she made the comments. However, the key point is that she made the comments in SEPTEMBER 2022. The controversy about them erupted in late JULY and AUGUST 2023 when a group of highly motivated individuals unearthed and amplified them. For almost a year the comments went almost entirely unnoticed. The hate against her has been the product of a very intentionally manufactured campaign.

 

[Casper Gutman]

We are passionate because we are all movie geeks.
We wouldn’t be on this board if we weren’t.

Most “movie geeks” would simply dismiss these live-action remakes out of hand. There’s very little of interest here outside of the controversy.

 

[coffeefan]

If someone has a problem with a casting choice based on merit (talent, acting, singing) that's fair, but if it's based on skin color, then yes, that's racism. I'm not going to sugarcoat it just because we're Disney fans.

 

[Trauma]

The latest tracking has 42m to 46m.

It might open worse than Dumbo.

 

[MagicMouseFan]

Most “movie geeks” would simply dismiss these live-action remakes out of hand. There’s very little of interest here outside of the controversy.

Casper… as much I respect your passion and your push for gay representation in film. You sometimes come across as eeyore.

Who is a solid character

 

[DKampy]

I've often been accused of trying to silence people here, as if I have such power to begin with. And as you say, the people complaining about it are often quite vocal!

Yes…,what a strange accusation… I don’t know how any of us has that ability except for The Mom or Steve… unless it is through our own eyes with the block feature

 

[Disney Irish]

Yes…,what a strange accusation… I don’t know how any of us has that ability except for The Mom or Steve… unless it is through our own eyes with the block feature

Unfortunately its an accusation thrown toward several posters, myself included, when we challenge another poster about something that is clearly nonsense and usually untrue.

 

[erasure fan1]

There are so many posts in this thread. Were you unhappy with the casting when Rachel Zegler was first announced? Did you see her in something else and think she wasn’t right for the part?

For myself, I honestly don't care that she was cast as snow white as there was very little chance I would see it in the theater anyway. The only thing I have seen her in was Shazam. And she was fine. It was a mediocre film but she wasn't in anyway the reason it wasn't great.

What I can say, is I understand why people who thought she should look close to the original character didn't like the casting. and I don't think everyone who thinks that is flat out racist. The problem in my eyes was so many people were never going to give her a chance because of the things she said. So she could have had a, WOW she was really good in the roll, moment. But that ship most likely sailed with her comments.

 

[brideck]

What I can say, is I understand why people who thought she should look close to the original character didn't like the casting. and I don't think everyone who thinks that is flat out racist.

Considering fandoms lose their sanity when someone has the "wrong" hair color for a role from a book, I would agree with this, although it certainly can give the appearance that someone is racist in cases like this. [Note: This sort of behavior is also nonsense to me. Assuming there was ever an actual character there to begin with, hair color is more or less never a defining attribute, and is easily written around.]

If they're out there putting Snow Brown into every comment thread they can find? They've taken any doubt away.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

It kind of feels like streaming is in the early “Amazon” stage, Amazon lost unbelievable amounts of money, for nearly a decade, before it finally became profitable, I remember thinking Bezos was crazy because it made no sense to me at the time but in hindsight it sure does now.

It’ll be curious to see how streaming is doing a decade from now.

I think it's actually in the mid-Amazon stage - meaning that Amazon (Netflix) already won and all the other competitors haven't realized it yet and continue to toss away money chasing a dream that won't happen.

 

[Phroobar]

I've created a spoilers thread for Snow White.

Thread 'SPOILERS: Snow White live action (March 21, 2025 release)'

Yesterday at 5:37 PM

Have fun discussing this movie.

• Phroobar
• Replies: 28
• Forum: Disney Movies, Animation, TV and Disney+

• 

 

[Casper Gutman]

For myself, I honestly don't care that she was cast as snow white as there was very little chance I would see it in the theater anyway. The only thing I have seen her in was Shazam. And she was fine. It was a mediocre film but she wasn't in anyway the reason it wasn't great.

What I can say, is I understand why people who thought she should look close to the original character didn't like the casting. and I don't think everyone who thinks that is flat out racist. The problem in my eyes was so many people were never going to give her a chance because of the things she said. So she could have had a, WOW she was really good in the roll, moment. But that ship most likely sailed with her comments.

You were the third poster to respond in the Snow White thread after Zegler was cast and your post is critical of her choice based on her race.

To reiterate - I am not accusing you of being a racist. I am pointing out that the initial reaction to her casting was almost entirely centered on race. That was the spark that ignited everything that followed.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

This can’t be great news for Hollywood. Apple has some great shows.

This does speak to the proliferation of streaming and market saturation. It's an important revenue source for studios but it might be hard for some to build a profitable service when going up against established juggernauts like Netflix and Disney.

Streaming has to be lucrative for Disney because they're collecting all revenue instead of licensing shows out.

Apple however, I don't think necessarily is concerned about these numbers. As a company they have almost $100 billion in cash assets on hand. They don't need their streaming service to be profitable any time soon. They can do what they are doing, and that is slowly building a service that is really quality over quantity. The opposite of what Netflix seems to be doing.

They're also heavy on sci-fi shows which will help them build a different audience than other streamers.

It may contribute to brand loyalty.

 

[LittleBuford]

What I can say, is I understand why people who thought she should look close to the original character didn't like the casting.

Zegler is the same complexion as Gadot, and no-one to my knowledge has said the latter is physically miscast as the Evil Queen. Zegler herself identifies as a white Latina.

 

[WorldExplorer]

Saw this-

"Snow White doesn’t include one of the animated original’s most famous songs, “Someday My Prince Will Come,”"

SERIOUSLY?

Screw this film. That song is iconic and for them to omit it they deserve to lose every penny and more.

They cut the Prince entirely, wrote their own character to replace him, and made their own songs.

They also changed Snow White to a completely different person.

And openly bashed on the dwarves before the film dropped.

And decided to add EIGHT (enough to be the cast of a whole other film) original characters to this film that already had ten to fill the screen time.

But, you know, don't take that to mean they don't respect the original just because they clearly want to make a different movie than their source material. Pretend it's just an adaptation of the fairy tale and ignore the blatant Disney-specific iconography that cements it as specifically a Disney remake.

Some people on here have been going on about "You're not a 10 year old girl so this film isn't for you"



This was my great grandmother's favorite movie. This is the movie her and my great aunt watched on her deathbed. It meant everything to her, it meant everything to my great aunt, and being my great aunt was the one who Disneyfied me, it holds a very special place for me. So don't try to tell this 'not a 10 year old girl' how I can feel.



This bastardization deserves what it gets.

The idea that companies are using these old movies/franchises solely to appeal to a new audience of small children is nonsense and I don't understand how so many people come to this conclusion.

Aside from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs being a great film that adults can enjoy, like five generations have grown up with it, nostalgia is a huge business, and Disney knows that.


I don't have a story quite to match yours, but I can say that my sister is a full grown adult, loves Snow White, loves the Cinderella remake, and absolutely would have bought tickets to this if every new bit of information didn't cement that it sounded like garbage that hated its source material.

 

[Chi84]

They cut the Prince entirely

His entire role?! How much cutting did that involve?

 

[LittleBuford]

And openly bashed on the dwarves before the film dropped.

What does this refer to?

 

[Casper Gutman]

Why is it racist when people are upset that a character doesn’t look like we expect? I don’t recall people saying Hawaiians are racist when many thought the Hawaiian actor hired to play Nani wasn’t dark enough, I don’t recall racist being thrown around when people were upset Disney didn’t cast Ving Rhames for Cobra… why is it racist to be upset when they take a character we know and love and then don’t cast people who look like the character we know and love?

It probably has something to do with the long history of discrimination in the US in general and the culture industry specifically.

Also, nobody real “looks like” an animated character. Snow White in the cartoon is ink on a cel, not flesh and bone. That’s the biggest difference between two characters imaginable. The problem is that there are only a few ways that a character can “look different” that launch a firestorm.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

If someone has a problem with a casting choice based on merit (talent, acting, singing) that's fair, but if it's based on skin color, then yes, that's racism. I'm not going to sugarcoat it just because we're Disney fans.

Why is it racist when people are upset that a character doesn’t look like we expect? I don’t recall people saying Hawaiians are racist when many thought the Hawaiian actor hired to play Nani wasn’t dark enough, I don’t recall racist being thrown around when people were upset Disney didn’t cast Ving Rhames for Cobra… why is it racist to be upset when they take a character we know and love and then don’t cast people who look like the character we know and love?

If they remade Soul tomorrow and cast Ed Sheeran to play Joe the whole world, including myself, would be mad. Ed Sheeran is more than talented enough to play the piano and sing the songs but he’d never be Joe to me.

 

[LittleBuford]

Why is it only racist when white people are upset when a character doesn’t look like we expect? I don’t recall people saying Hawaiians are racist when many thought the Hawaiian actor hired to play Nani wasn’t dark enough, I don’t recall racist being thrown around when people were upset Disney didn’t cast Ving Rhames for Cobra… why is it racist to be upset when they take a character we know and love and then don’t cast people who look like the character we know and love?

But plenty of live-action characters don’t look like their cartoon counterparts. Emma Stone is obviously very far from the animated Cruella, and Elle Fanning really doesn’t look much like Aurora. That no-one raised any objections (at least on the basis of appearance) to their casting shows that it’s really ethnicity rather than resemblance that is the key factor here.

Regarding your broader point, there’s a long history around issues of representation that I think explains all too well why people of colour are entitled to react differently to instances of “race swapping” than those who objected to the casting of Bailey or Zegler. Your asking where that difference lies is analogous to someone asking why there’s no Straight Pride.