The live-action remakes of Moana and Lilo & Stitch.
Despite the negative press surrounding Disney's live-action remakes, especially 2025's Snow White, the new versions of Moana and Lilo & Stitch could help the studio make a comeback thanks to their relatively low budgets. The performances of both movies in theaters could also help Disney continue to make bigger-budget remakes that could achieve massive profits.
Snow White's Massive Budget Put The Movie In A Bad Spot At The Box Office
Snow White Had To Make Quite A Lot To Profit From A Huge Production
Snow White is one of Disney's biggest live-action remakes to date, so there was an extremely high bar for success in theaters. This blockbuster movie reportedly cost somewhere between $200 million and $270 million to make. Combined with the millions of dollars in marketing costs, Snow White had to make a large amount of money at the box office just to break even, reportedly between $540 and $675 million (via Collider).
Unfortunately for Disney, Snow White had been embroiled in multiple controversies long before its release, making it difficult for Disney to market the movie. Specifically, the film received backlash for its stark deviations from the original animated movie, the casting of a non-white actor as Snow White, lead actors Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot's political views, and the depiction of CGI dwarves. This all culminated in people calling to boycott the movie, hurting its chances of success.
Disney's Live-Action Snow White Failure Is Even Worse After This 2023 Flop
Snow White massively underperforming at the box office is not a good sign for Disney, especially after this 2023 animated film also flopped.
Overall, these huge roadblocks prevented Disney from drawing enough audiences into theaters to see their Snow White remake. Over a month after the film's theatrical release, it reportedly made around $200 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo). With these numbers, the movie didn't even match its reported production budget, making one of Disney's most expensive films one of its biggest box office bombs.
Why Snow White's Budget Was So Large
Several Factors Increased The Price Of Snow White's Production
A blockbuster like Snow White with massive sets, A-list actors, and extensive CGI visuals will naturally cost hundreds of millions of dollars to complete. However, unsatisfied with Snow White’s original cut, Disney demanded the production team conduct reshoots to fix the film before its release. These changes reportedly reworked the movie’s ending and added a new scene featuring the Evil Queen (via The New York Times). Such massive reshoots made an already expensive movie even more costly, making it harder to break even in theaters.
I Think Lilo & Stitch Will Beat Snow White's Entire Box Office In Only 7 Days
Lilo and Stitch are almost certain to have a better box office experience than Snow White and the Evil Queen, maybe beating them very quickly.
On top of that, like many other Hollywood productions, filming for Snow White had been delayed due to COVID-19, forcing the studio to shoot the movie during the pandemic. The delays didn't stop there. Disney had to push the film's release date back by a year due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Though these outside events were beyond Disney's control, they surely caused public hype for Snow White to decline and the film's cost to balloon way beyond what it should've been.
Disney's Live-Action Remakes Have Lower Budgets Than Snow White
Lilo & Stitch Cost Only A Fraction Of Snow White's Budget
Snow White clearly had a long, tumultuous production that cost it dearly in the end. However, the other live-action remakes still on Disney's release schedule should be easier on the studio's wallets and actually turn a profit. For instance, while Snow White cost at most $270 million to make following reshoots and multiple delays, the Lilo & Stitch remake reportedly cost $150 million. Nevertheless, this is still an immensely lower price tag than Snow White's. Plus, Disney put a lot of effort into Lilo & Stitch's marketing, from poster crossovers to pranks at movie theaters. The studio's confidence in the movie is a huge contrast to Snow White's lighter promotion.
Snow White's Box Office Is Comparable To A Successful Disney Movie That Came Out 4 Years Ago, But There's A Key Difference
Snow White's performance at the domestic box office is disappointing, even though its numbers are technically similar to those of a live-action hit.
At the same time, the remake will possibly exceed $150 million in of budget. However, this cost hasn't been confirmed at this point, as it is still a while before the film's scheduled premiere in July 2026. Whatever the case is for both films, barring any major reshoots or delays from outside events, these live-action remakes should still be well under Snow White's $200+ million price range, making for easier productions and easier profits.
Lower Budgets Can Help Save Disney's Live-Action Remakes
Disney Can Do More With Less When Making Live-Action Remakes
Disney's reputation for live-action remakes has declined in recent years after several lackluster movies, particularly with Snow White. As a result, the chances of future remakes succeeding in theaters have lessened, with Disney seemingly stepping away from making more remakes after halting production of its live-action adaptation of Tangled.
However, films like the Lilo & Stitch and Moana remakes could succeed in profiting in theaters, despite any low box office numbers, thanks to their relatively lower budgets. Both movies are still popular with modern audiences, with Moana especially stuck in people's minds after the animated sequel. Thus, these two live-action remakes should have a better chance of appealing to audiences in the coming months.
Disney Still Has One More Opportunity To Turn Snow White Into A Success After $200M Box Office Disappointment
After underperforming with a $200 million gross against its reported budget of roughly $250 million, 2025's Snow White has another chance to succeed.
Also, if such movies are deemed a success at the box office, public perception of Disney's live-action remakes could turn around, giving the studio the opportunity to profit from making more big-budget remakes that audiences would want to see. Lilo & Stitch is projected to make over $100 million on its opening weekend in late May, making it likely for the film to recoup its budget and make a hefty profit in theaters.
In the end, Snow White's disappointing performance in theaters proved that Disney needed to step back for a bit and rethink its approach to producing live-action remakes. Thankfully, the popularity and relatively low budgets of Moana and Lilo & Stitch could be the success stories that Disney hoped for with Snow White, which could hopefully teach the studio what it needs to do going forward. Both films could also help the studio regain the public's confidence in their live-action remakes, potentially increasing the profits of future films that audiences will be excited about.
Source: Collider, Box Office Mojo, The New York Times
Snow White
- Release Date
- March 21, 2025
- Runtime
- 109 Minutes
- Director
- Marc Webb
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Erin Cressida Wilson, Wilhelm Grimm
- Producers
- Callum McDougall, Marc Platt
- Main Genre
- Fantasy
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