Why Disney should not sweat like “Snow White” tanks at the box office

“Snow White” looks like a bad (or poisoned) an apple for Disney. But the looks can be deceived.

After the start of a book less than spread, the controversy remake of the first Disney princess film stumbled during his second weekend. The lower criticism and political reactions weighed on “Snow White”, which attracted $ 14 million, a third of its interior opening. With $ 143 million in world sales, the film of $ 270 million (not to mention its marketing budget) faces a steep profitability.

Fortunately for Disney, box office analysts have noted that ticket sales are only part of the image.

Although “Snow White” will almost certainly lose money in theaters, it does not mean that it will be not profitable, David A. Gross of a film consultant in cinema told Business Insider.

“After finishing selling digital copies, then renting on video on demand (Pvod), then streaming on Disney +, then playing on Hulu, then playing on ABC, in addition to sale of goods and attracting customers in themed parks, he will recover his costs and will be profitable,” said Gros.

Streaming can give “Snow White” an end of fairy tale

All the controversy surrounding “Snow White” can turn into a secret weapon of the film when it leaves theaters.

Disney’s creative decisions, like throwing a non-white actor like Snow White and using CGI dwarves, have taken criticism from the right and have further fueled a long-standing story that the Hollywood giant is “awake”. To appear “focused on the agenda” is a major problem, the CEO, Bob Iger, said that he wanted to avoid.

“It has just become this political story and cultural maelstroms surrounding this film,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a box office analyst at Comscore, in a recent interview. “And it’s never really a good thing for a family film, for a Disney film classified PG.”

But what was terrestrial mines in the theater could be gold mines for streaming.

“The films that get a lot of chatter – a lot of buzz, positive or negative – around them, are doing very well once they have reached streaming,” said Dergarabedian.

He said that many Disney + subscribers may think: “Wow, I have not gone to see this film in the theater, but I am curious about this.”

Although a big budget streaming hit may not have been Disney’s main objective with “Snow White”, Gross said that Netflix and Amazon seem to agree to get rid of nine-digit sums for films like “the electric state” and “Red One”. These banners have proven that you do not need a theatrical race to see a solid yield.

“What is it worth” Snow White “on Disney +?” Gross said.

“Snow White” was unexpected in his second week by the action film “A worker”, “ which had a budget of 40 million dollars in mid -range. However, Jason Statham’s film will not be watched in rehearsal for years, or used to sell costumes or Halloween dolls.

The public could point out a certain fatigue with the series of suites and apparently endless Disney remakes.

But even if “Snow White” is a creative lack that seems to be a financial flop, it could be paid anyway. So don’t expect Disney to pivot to redo films like “Moana” at any time.

“Fortunately, they have streaming and merchandising,” said Dergarabedian. “Disney will have to count on all this, all these other auxiliary opportunities in terms of income.”