Someone needs to consult Mickey Mouse or Walt’s frozen head.
This past weekend, Disney decided that Mother’s Day was the perfect time to re-release their somewhat floppy Snow White film. We say “somewhat floppy” because, while it did make $200 million globally, it cost $250 million to make—so they’re still in the red. But the Mother’s Day re-release may have added even more insult to injury. Shown in 1,300 theaters, the film pulled in less than what some Kickstarter campaigns make: just $350,000 in revenue.
Snow White might not be the best choice for a Mother’s Day film, considering the mother is dead and the stepmother is, well, evil. Along with how much peiple hated the film. But Disney went for it anyway.
Maybe there was some logic behind it. Snow White has become a meme magnet on TikTok, with videos galore mocking the film. Perhaps Disney thought it could cash in on some gallows humor and bring in audiences looking for a laugh, just like they did with the Minecraft movie. But no such luck. We didn’t chicken jockey Snow White. That didn’t happen—and instead, the meme of failure continues. Snow White remains abandoned by moviegoers.
There’s a lesson here for Disney. And it’s not just about timing their re-release better. The real lesson?
Stop making movies that people don’t want to see.