Snow White Box Office Bomb is Expected Says Greg Laurie
The new live-action version of “Snow White” from Disney continues to flop at the box office, earning only $43 million in its opening weekend. The film’s performance has continued to disappoint, with the total box office reaching only $143.1 million globally against its reported $300-plus million budget. Critics have been brutal in their reviews of the film. The Guardian called it a “toe-curlingly terrible live-action remake” and criticized its “tiresome pseudo-progressive additions that tie the whole thing in knots.”
Both the book by the Brothers Grimm and the 1937 animated film was about good vs. evil. A vain queen is so obsessed with her own beauty and status that she’s willing to murder an innocent girl just to remain the fairest in the land.
“Sound familiar?” says Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship and one of America’s most influential evangelical leaders.. “That’s basically the story that we read about in the Bible, about Lucifer, a once high-ranking, powerful angel who wanted to take the place of God with himself. The problem with Lucifer is he was in love with his own image; he wanted to be in the place of God.”
Laurie also expressed concern about the film’s departure from traditional themes, criticizing the removal of the song “Some Day My Prince Will Come,” a pivotal song in the film’s original score that marked Snow White’s character’s shift away from dependence on a knight in shining armor and toward self-reliance. Instead, Rachel Zegler, who plays the leading role, performs a new song, “Waiting on a Wish.” Laurie described the song as being about “female empowerment and self-sufficiency, because, heaven forbid, we acknowledge the timeless human desire for love, redemption and rescue.”
He went on to say Disney has lost the point of the story. “Disney has sunk $270 million into this movie, hoping audiences will embrace this new vision of ‘Snow White,'” he said. “Time will tell how that turns out.”
Laurie isn’t alone in his criticism. Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, noted that “the film abandons the timeless themes of redemption and sacrificial love that made the original story resonate with generations.” Bishop Robert Barron, writing for Word on Fire, argued that “the new adaptation strips away the rich Christian symbolism that gave the fairy tale its deeper meaning.”
Zegler, who also came under fire for supporting Hamas, called the original animated movie as “dated,” telling “Variety” in 2022 that “Snow White’s not going to be saved by the prince, and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love; she’s going to be dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be.” At another point, she called the general storyline of the movie “weird.” These comments sparked considerable debate among fans, with many questioning the decision to dramatically alter the classic tale’s themes and messages.
–Dwight Widaman
