After Box Office Flop, Rachel Zegler Touts Snow White's No. 1 Streaming Crown
Disney’s live-action Snow White may have stumbled at the box office, but Rachel Zegler is pushing back, pointing to No. 1 streaming stats as proof the fairy tale still found its audience.
Disney's live-action Snow White had a rough run at pretty much every stage, but Rachel Zegler is not backing away from it. She says she loved making it, she still loves the movie, and she is not losing sleep over the noise.
The bumpy road to release
This one was messy from go. The production went through reshoots, got pushed around by pandemic delays, and the price tag inflated until it became one of Disney's most expensive swings. When it finally hit theaters earlier this year, the response was mixed and the global box office limped to just over $205 million. Not what you want when the budget has ballooned.
Why the backlash landed on Zegler
Zegler ended up carrying a lot of the blame from certain corners of the internet, for a grab bag of reasons:
- Some viewers thought she was miscast
- Others bristled at her comments about the 1937 original
- And plenty simply disagreed with her outspoken political views
What Zegler says now
Talking with Helen Mirren for Glamour, Zegler looked back without flinching. She says she made lifelong friends on set, learned a lot, and still enjoys watching the finished film. She also pointed out that it hit number one on Disney+ after release, which, to her, is proof that people are actually watching and celebrating it, even if the negative chatter sounds louder.
"Honestly, I'm a duck. It rolls right off my back these days."
The movie itself: not exactly a reinvention
Controversies aside, the movie played like another flat live-action redo in Disney's long line of them. Chris Bumbray's review called it a bit of a big yawn and said it somehow felt padded despite running under two hours. He did single out Zegler as the standout: the fresh-faced vibe fit the character, and she can clearly sing, even if the songs themselves do not stick. He also wished Disney had pushed the update further; with Snow White still written as such a naive heroine, he found it hard to invest in her.
Where it landed after theaters
Post-release, Disney rolled the film out on digital, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, and DVD, complete with family-friendly Sing-Along features. And again, Zegler says it topped Disney+ streaming at one point, which is the data point she is holding onto while the rest rolls off like water off a duck. Your mileage may vary, but she is clearly at peace with it.