Upcoming remake of the Disney classic Snow White It will have to earn at least $336.4 million to break even, according to an analysis of recently published reports.
The film won’t debut until March next year, but critics have already criticized it for the changes it makes to the 1937 classic, which earned Walt Disney an honorary Oscar.
The biggest bone of contention is the casting of the main role, which went to West Side StoryRachel Zegler, Latin American actress of Colombian origin. She faced racist backlash because the original portrayed the character as Caucasian with “skin as white as snow.”
Zegler, 22, sparked outrage by telling Diversity that in the remake, Snow White “will not be saved by the prince and she will not dream of true love.”
Instead of Prince Charming, American actor Andrew Burnap plays Jonathan, a completely new character. Ansu Kabia stars alongside him as the Hunter and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen.
The fundamental change to the story disappointed David Hand, whose father worked on the original with Walt Disney. Last month he said the duo would be “turning in their graves” because the original was made in “good taste”.
He called it a “shame” that Disney is “trying to do something new with something that has been such a big success.”
Even the seven dwarfs that accompany Snow White in the cartoon are replaced by a gang of different “magical creatures.” Photos leaked in July revealed that the only actor with a form of dwarfism is American Martin Klebba, star of the 2012 sci-fi comedy. Mirror Mirror.
The photos were taken in the UK and highlight the film’s cost as well as its cast.
Movie finances are usually a closely guarded secret, as studios include the cost of individual films in their overall expenses and don’t reveal how much they spent on each one.
Films shot in the UK are an exception. Snow White is one of them. It was filmed near London, at the historic Pinewood Studios, and also in the UK.
Productions made there benefit from the government’s Film Tax Credit Scheme, which gives studios a cash refund of up to 25% of the money they spend in the UK, provided it accounts for at least 10% of the film’s total cost.
To demonstrate this to the government, studios set up separate companies to produce each film and must file financial statements detailing everything from headcount, salaries and expenses to the amount of cash they receive.
Companies usually have code names so they don’t attract attention from fans when applying for permits to film on location. Snow White was created by Disney’s UK subsidiary Hidden Heart Productions.
Newly filed financial statements show that Disney spent $209.3 million (£150.5 million) making the film in the three years to July 31, 2022. The documents add that the staggering costs were partly due to the pandemic causing “film production delays.”
Spending on blockbusters benefits the UK as studios use local services such as equipment hire, travel and visual effects firms. Filming also keeps busy: Hidden Heart Productions employed 354 people last year, not even counting the freelancers who make up most of the crew. Disney was well rewarded for hiring them.
As we recently found out in Daily mail newspaper, Disney received compensation of $41.1 million (£29.5 million) for Snow White bringing the picture’s net costs to $168.2 million.
These are the basic costs that the film will have to cover. Costs were likely to increase sharply as there was still more than a year of post-production to go after the financial statement date.
An estimate of how much money a film will need to raise to cover its base costs depends on how much of the box office revenue the studios will receive.
The amount that theaters pay studios is known in the trade as rent, and it varies by territory and even by film. In filings with the AMC theater chain, it states that “distribution fees are based on the box office performance of each film, although in certain and less common circumstances, our rental fees are based on a mutually agreed-upon flat rate.
“In some European territories, film rental fees are set on a weekly basis, and some licenses use a per capita agreement instead of a revenue share, paying a fixed amount per ticket.”
However, it would be unrepresentative to base a box office percentage on data from just one theater chain, since they all have different exposure levels. For example, AMC does not have theaters in major markets such as France and Japan.
Overall, it is clear that the share of box office receipts paid to studios rises to 55% domestically, while in China it is about half that and in international markets it averages around 43%. Many big blockbusters don’t release in China, and when they do, the box office there is often low, so it doesn’t have a significant impact on overall distribution.
If we take the average of 43% and 55%, that works out to about a 50-50 box office split between theaters and studios, reflecting the findings of film industry consultant Stephen Folose. In 2014, he surveyed 1,235 film professionals and concluded that, according to studios, theaters on average keep 49% of box office receipts.
If Disney keeps about 50% of the proceeds Snow White, the film would need to gross $336.4 million just to cover its $168.2 million base cost. This is far from guaranteed.
One of the most anticipated Disney remakes in recent years was Mermaid which was released in May. The film failed to make a splash and grossed just $569.2 million, according to industry analysts Box Office Mojo.
This was only about half of Disney’s revenue. Aladdin And lion king remakes, which were released in 2019 and grossed over $1 billion. We can see a continuation of this downward trend. Snow White fight to break even. However, if the film comes even close to its predecessors, it will truly make Disney’s happily ever after.