North American Revenue at $43 Million... Only Half of Projections
Disappointing Performance Considering Production Cost of About 400 Billion KRW
Disney's live-action film "Baekseolgongju" (Snow White) topped the North American box office during its opening weekend.
On the 24th (local time), BBC cited the U.S. box office tracking site Box Office Mojo, reporting that "Baekseolgongju" earned a total ticket revenue of $87.3 million (128 billion KRW) since its release. North American revenue was $43 million (63 billion KRW), while revenue from regions outside North America was $44.3 million (64.9 billion KRW).
However, this is a disappointing performance compared to the production cost of over $270 million (396 billion KRW). The initial forecast for the first week of the North American release a month ago was $85 million, but the actual revenue was only about half of that.
The newly released "Baekseolgongju" is a live-action musical film adaptation of Disney's 1937 animated film "Baekseolgongju wa Ilgop Nanjangi" (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). The film faced several controversies from the production stage. The role of Snow White, characterized by skin as white as snow and black hair, was played by 23-year-old Latina actress Rachel Zegler.
Opinions were divided between "destroying the original" and "reflecting diversity." At the time, Zegler responded on social media (SNS), saying, "I am Snow White, but I will not bleach my skin because of the role I play." Previously, Disney faced similar controversy when casting Black actress Halle Bailey as Ariel in the 2023 live-action film "The Little Mermaid."
Later, Zegler sparked political controversy as well. The issue began when she posted a message online that insulted supporters of former President Trump shortly after his election last year.
Additionally, while the film promoted "political correctness (PC)," it also faced criticism for creating the seven dwarfs using computer graphics (CG) instead of casting actors with dwarfism, which was seen as taking away job opportunities from actors with dwarfism.
Meanwhile, the film, which was released in South Korea on the 19th, recorded a disappointing cumulative audience of 128,063 by the first weekend.
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