When a new film comes out, especially a Disney adaptation, fans often need to pre-book their tickets to ensure a viewing on release day. However, for Snow White, most cinemas appear to be almost empty – with no one eagerly queueing up to watch the remake of a classic when it hits UK cinemas tomorrow (Friday 21).
The two-hundred-million-pound film has been embroiled in controversy before its even released due to the replacement of dwarf actors with CGI and the lead actor slamming the original cartoon for its “sexist” plot. The movie, starring Rachel Zegler as the Disney icon, has also been heavily criticised for adding “ridiculous” warnings at the start, including “a woman is deliberately poisoned” and “a girl is surrounded by ominous trees”.
At the time of writing, cinemas that are usually hustling and bustling saw empty seats galore for the new release. For example, Leicester Square’s Odeon 4.30pm viewing had just around 30 seats booked in a screen that holds well over 100 viewers.
The Odeon Luxe in London’s West end had about half of the seats booked for the 5.45pm viewing and about a quarter for the 3pm viewing. London’s Picadilly Vue cinema had several viewings on Friday, but not a single seat was booked for any of the viewings including prime times at 4.15pm, 5.40pm or 7pm.
Elsewhere in the country, things aren’t looking much better for the new film. For prime time viewings in Liverpool One’s Odeon, which sits in the busy city centre, there were no seats at all booked for the 4.40pm viewing and other times were far from filled out.
Just up the road in Manchester, fans who use the Deansgate Odeon also did not seem keen. The 4pm booking had just two people registered and none of the bookings had more than 10. In the midlands, in Birmingham, there were just eight seats booked for a 4.20pm viewing at Birmingham Broad Street’s Cineworld and 12 seats booked at 5.20pm.
Up in Scotland, particularly Glasgow, things followed a similar pattern. At the Odeon in Glasgow Quay, only nine seats were reserved for the 5.20pm viewing. Vue in Glasgow’s St Enoch followed suit, with no more than 10 bookings in the primetime viewings – so while there were no completely empty viewings the numbers were not looking much better.
It seems even over in the States, the film is facing the same issue. Posting to X/Twitter, one movie lover shared a screen shot of an empty screening. They wrote: “I’ve never in my life seen anything like this…
“Snow White opening Saturday, IMAX, prime time for families, in one of the busiest movie theaters in the entire DC metro area…. I go to this theater all the time, I have literally never seen anything like this.”
They went on to add a second image, showing miniminal seats booked, as they wrote: “Just checked the same date of the 4:00pm IMAX showing at the moment of this post for Regal Opry Mills (@ Opryland Mall) in Nashville TN. Not sure if the ‘x’ shown are taken seats or just not being sold; if they were sold, why would people want the far corners & not in the center.”
The Disney remake stars Rachel Zegler, 23, as Snow White and Gal Gadot, 39, as the Wicked Witch. Ms Zegler previously shared how she refused to sing the song Some Day My Prince Will Come from the 1937 classic due to finding it “weird” that the film honed in on Snow White’s “love story with a guy who literally stalks her”.