Disney's Snow White film tops box office despite bad reviews

Disney's live-action version of the classic fairy tale Snow White has topped the North American box office chart despite a slew of underwhelming reviews.

The movie has taken an estimated $87.3m USD globally during its opening weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. Almost half of that figure came from North America.

But it is below expectations for a film that reportedly cost more than $270m USD.

The reworking of the 1937 feature length animation had seemed like a surefire hit before running into a series of controversies ahead of its release.

The revamp of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs became a flashpoint for social and political divisions, even before it reached cinemas around the world.

That included some criticism of the casting of Rachel Zegler, who is of Colombian descent, as the heroine.

There was also a backlash about Zegler's pro-Palestinian comments and about pro-Israel comments by Israeli actress Gal Gadot, who plays Snow White's stepmother, the Evil Queen.

And there is an ongoing debate about whether there should have been dwarfs in the film at all, live or computer-generated imagery (CGI).

Source: BBC