Disney’s “Snow White” reaches theaters on Friday, after having been dogged by controversies that dragged the retelling of the 1937 animated classic into the culture wars, potentially threatening its box office performance.
The big-budget adaptation of Walt Disney’s original princess story has been in the works since 2016, following a string of box-office successes with similar live-action remakes of Disney animated films, including “Alice in Wonderland,” “Cinderella” and “The Jungle Book.”
“The Amazing Spider-Man” director Marc Webb agreed to helm a live-action musical version of the movie that would update the fairy tale for contemporary audiences.
The project, with an estimated budget of $270 million, has became mired in the nation’s divisions over race, the 2024 election and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Disney declined to comment for this story.
“‘Snow White’ looms as a Hollywood case study of how the world can change under your feet,” wrote Richard Rushfield, editorial director of the entertainment industry newsletter The Ankler. “It approaches the finish line having collected more scandals, brouhahas and issues than some studios see in a decade.”