While The Walt Disney Studios could finally breathe a sigh of relief after the box office success of Moana 2 this month, they are also most likely anxiously looking at the returns of another film—which they did not even produce.
That movie in question is the low-budget horror-comedy Y2K, which takes the premise of the ‘digital apocalypse’ projected by some for the year 2000 actually coming true. It is of particular interest for Disney because it stars none other than Rachel Zegler, the actress of Colombian ancestry, whom they chose to cast as Snow White in their upcoming feature film adaptation of the Brothers Grimm tale.
Evidently, many objected to the idea of having a Latina actress play the role of a classic European character known for having white skin. Zegler’s public statements in the lengthy lead-up to the film’s release (it has been delayed to 21 March 2025) only added fuel to the dumpster fire. Among other things, she criticized the original 1937 animated Snow White film, claiming it was sexist; and had a vile tirade against Donald Trump and his supporters after the 2024 US presidential election, saying ‘May Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace’. The release of the Y2K film was a great way for Disney to test how much goodwill is left for Rachel Zegler among the American public.
Films starring Zegler had a 50 per cent ‘hit rate’ prior to her latest lead role, with the 2021 film adaptation of the musical West Side Story being a massive financial loss; but The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes from 2023 being a box office success.
Y2K, however, was a giant box office bomb, of a surprising magnitude.
Saturday Night Live alumn Kyle Mooney’s directorial debut cost just $15 million to produce, a very small amount by Hollywood standards. Yet it did not come anywhere close to turning a profit, grossing just $2.1 million domestically, despite being shown in 2,100 theatres across the United States. In the second weekend of its theatrical run, it only brought in $684,957 in revenue. By comparison, the re-release of the 1954 Christmas classic White Christmas grossed $1.152 million the same weekend, despite only being shown in 1,087 theatres.
The new Rachel Zegler comedy is reportedly going to be available on digital streaming by 24 December, less than a month after its theatrical debut on 6 December.
This is all devastating news for Zegler, who, in the face of backlash, publicly stated that she comforts herself in the fact that at least whatever project she does, ‘people will wait in line to see’. First off, that is not that big of an achievement if you have a major studio pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the production and marketing of your project, like in the case of Disney's Snow White. Second, in the case of Y2K, people are not really lining up at all…
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