Snow White has another shot at becoming a success in the wake of its disappointing theatrical run. The newest Disney live-action remake, which adapts their pioneering 1937 feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was directed by Marc Webb (The Amazing Spider-Man) and stars Rachel Zegler in the title role opposite Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. Its release was mired in multiple controversies, including pushback against the depiction of the seven dwarfs, objections to a Latinx actor playing the title role, Gadot and Zegler's opposing opinions on Israel and Palestine, Zegler's criticisms of the original movie, and more.

In addition to the movie being review-bombed on various platforms in the wake of these controversies, critics were generally underwhelmed by it on its own , giving it a 40% Rotten Tomatoes score. Additionally, the Snow White box office severely underperformed. Although its reported budget was roughly $250 million, it has so far only grossed $200.2 million worldwide, more than a month after its debut on March 21. While this total makes it the fourth highest-grossing movie of the year so far, behind Captain America: Brave New World, A Minecraft Movie, and Ne Zha 2, it still hasn't broken even.

Snow White Releasing On Streaming Gives The Movie Another Chance To Find Its Audience

It Will Come To Disney+ Soon

There are further release platforms that will potentially help the movie thrive. While the official Disney+ streaming release date for 2025's Snow White has not yet been announced, the movie is expected to the streamer's library sometime in Summer 2025 and to become available for purchase and rental on PVOD shortly before that, most likely sometime in May.

Generally, at least 100 days between a Disney movie's theatrical debut and its Disney+ steaming premiere.

Both of these releases will offer the movie opportunities to reach a broader audience, particularly its core demographic of families and kids. This will help the studio in the long run, because movies continue to earn money against their budgets even after the end of their theatrical runs. While VOD and streaming revenue form the core of this in of viewership, this also includes merchandising and physical media.

Why Snow White Could Perform Better On Streaming Than In Theaters

An At-Home Release Opens It Up To New Audiences

There are quite a few ways that being available to stream on Disney+ could benefit the live-action Snow White remake. One way is that it is more accessible to families, as at-home viewing on Disney+ is less of a financial commitment. Disney+ subscriptions cost as low as $9.99 a month, which is considerably less than the price of movie tickets for a full family. Additionally, its summer debut date could see it taking advantage of schools being on summer break, putting kids at home and potentially seeing them seek out entertainment on streaming more freely than during the school year.

[Encanto previously] became a sensation on Disney+...

Previous Disney movies have benefitted significantly from their debut on the platform, showcasing how Snow White could succeed. The most notable example is 2021's Encanto, which grossed a lukewarm $261.3 million against its reported $150 million budget. However, it became a sensation on Disney+. It was only after its streaming debut that the original song "We Don't Talk About Bruno" became a smash hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Nielsen's streaming ratings also reflected that the movie was watched for more than 27.4 billion minutes in 2022, making it the most-watched streaming movie of the year.

Streaming Probably Won't Totally Save Snow White

It Still Has A Long Way To Climb

Even though the movie could potentially do well on both PVOD and Disney+, this still may not make up for the enormous Snow White budget, which marks it as one of the 30 most expensive movies of all time. It has far from broken even in theaters because of this. Generally, because theaters keep half of ticket sales and marketing costs are not factored into publicity budgets, movies need to earn back two and a half times their budgets at the box office in order to turn a profit, which could place the movie's break-even point somewhere around $625 million.

Only seven Disney live-action remakes have grossed more than $625 million worldwide, namely The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, The Jungle Book, Maleficent, and Mufasa: The Lion King.

Though PVOD earnings and Disney+ subscriber revenue will see more money flowing directly to Disney and thus reduce its break-even point somewhat, it still most likely needs to earn $150 million more just to make its budget back, let alone make up for its substantial marketing costs, which have not been reported. Hitting that total may not be so easy. To compare, the entire collection of popular Taylor Sheridan series only earned Paramount+ $263 million between 2021 and Q3 of 2024, according to a recent report. Given that update, it seems unlikely that streaming revenue alone will buoy Snow White.