To say it would have been less is something that is unprovable. We don't know how people we have reacted. There could have been even more blow-back for all we know. Dinklage might have been able to garner enough support for this cause that it started a whole storm of blow-back against Disney. Them trying to be respectful even if the outcome wasn't ideal for everyone in the community is probably the best they could have hoped for. Basically they were damned if they do and damned if they don't.
But you're right it doesn't matter at this point. I think this mental exercise of trying to say xyz would have cause this film to be less of a bomb is not fruitful. Any number of things done "right" or an approximation of "right" and it still could have been the same outcome.
For as critical of a property as this is for the Studio, this is probably just one remake they didn't need to do. And I say that as someone who actually thought it was ok, not great, just ok.