The release of Disney‘s newest live-action remake has not struck a welcoming chord among most critics amid a troubled following that has included multiple controversies.
Snow White, the remake of Disney’s classic 1937 animated flick, is set to begin playing in theaters on Thursday afternoon, though reviews for the film were released a day prior. A majority of critics were left unimpressed by the remake, only scoring 49% approval from critics on the movie review website Rotten Tomatoes.
The average rating on Metacritic, another website that gathers film reviews, was not much better, scoring 47%. Of the 37 reviews shared to Metacritic as of Wednesday afternoon, only 12 were positive, followed by 18 mixed reviews and six that were negative.
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the laziest of them all?” writes the New York Post’s Johnny Oleksinski in his two-out-of-four-stars review. “That’d be Disney, the creativity-starved studio that has seemingly lost all ability or inclination to make new hits and would rather rifle through its back catalog instead.”
Rolling Stone’s David Fear was also very critical of the film, writing that the film is “a strong contender” for one of Disney’s “blandest” remakes. He also joked that the film gets credit as a bedtime story “because it will definitely put you to sleep.”
Variety’s Owen Gleiberman, however, offered one of the more positive reviews for the film, writing that it is “one of the better live-action adaptations” from the Mouse House.
As of Wednesday, Snow White is projected to open to roughly $50 million over the weekend in North America. The film reportedly had a budget of $240 million.
COURTNEY LOVE TO BECOME UK CITIZEN DUE TO ‘EMPEROR-CORE’ TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
The film’s release follows multiple controversies related to it, most of which stem from lead actress Rachel Zegler, who plays the title character of the film. Zegler expressed hope on social media that President Donald Trump and his supporters would “never know peace” after he won the 2024 election; she later apologized for those remarks.
Zegler also drew attention when she posted to X advocating to “free Palestine” in August. The actress’s co-star in Snow White, Gal Gadot, is Israeli, and wrote a post in October 2023, saying she stood with Israel following the Hamas terrorist group’s attack.