Gal Gadot recently pointed to political pressures as a key reason behind Disney’s “Snow White” box office troubles. Speaking on Israeli TV show “The A Talks,” the actress who played the Evil Queen suggested the film suffered financially due to the climate following the October 7, 2023 conflict. “There’s a lot of pressure on celebrities to speak out against Israel,” Gadot explained during her interview. She expressed clear disappointment that these tensions “greatly affected” the movie’s performance.
Despite widespread rumors of tension with co-star Rachel Zegler, who has publicly supported Palestine, Gadot painted a different picture of their relationship. “I even enjoyed working with Rachel Zegler. We laughed, we talked, and it was fun,” she said.
The numbers tell a difficult story for Disney. With a massive budget between $250-270 million, “Snow White” opened to just $43 million and has reached approximately $87 million domestically and $118 million internationally. Industry reports suggest Disney is facing a $115 million loss on the project.
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Gadot’s comments follow a series of protest incidents. In May, authorities detained five protesters who targeted the London set of her upcoming film “The Runner.” Earlier, her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony faced delays due to demonstrations from both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine groups.
Her background has often intersected with her Hollywood career. Gadot served two mandatory years in the Israeli Defense Forces, which led Lebanon to ban her 2017 film “Wonder Woman.”
Taking a philosophical view of the situation, Gadot simply stated, “You win some, you lose some.”
The film faced several other challenges beyond political controversy. Critics pointed to casting decisions, the use of CGI for the Seven Dwarfs instead of actors with dwarfism, and generally poor reviews as additional factors. The movie currently holds a 38% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, though audiences rated it somewhat higher at 70%.
Disney has not released any official statement addressing Gadot’s assessment of what caused the film to underperform.
