Snow White’s sleepy start at US box office buoyed by Republican voters

Disney’s controversial live-action remake was proportionally more successful in ‘red’ states that vote Republican than those voting Democrat

Dogged by politically inspired controversy for months, Disney’s new version of Snow White recorded a disappointing $43m (£33.3m) on its first weekend at the North American box office, the lowest figures to date for one of the studio’s recent wave of live-action remakes of its classic animated films. However, despite the stream of criticism over its so-called “woke” credentials, figures reveal that it is proportionally more successful in “red” states that vote Republican than those voting Democrat.

Overall, Snow White’s figures are well down on what Disney may have hoped for; the previously worst performing remake was the Tim Burton-directed Dumbo, which took $45m on its opening weekend in 2019, and finished with a worldwide box-office take of $353m. In contrast, remade films such as Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King all took over $1bn worldwide.