Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White has received most of the attention from this weekend’s box office results, but it wasn’t even the biggest box office disappointment; that тιтle belongs to Robert De Niro’s new movie The Alto Knights. While the two films could not be more different, Snow White and The Alto Knights shared the privilege of releasing in theaters on March 21, 2025. Disney and Warner Bros. put the two movies out on the same day. In theory, both should have been major box office hits, given who was involved.
Given the notoriety of Disney’s live-action remakes, the original animated movie, and Snow White‘s mᴀssive budget, the Rachel Zegler-starring musical unsurprisingly won its weekend. However, that accomplishment did not come exactly as expected. Snow White‘s $43 million opening weekend is viewed as a significant disappointment, pointing to it being a box office flop at the end of its theatrical run. The Alto Knights was never going to come close to matching Snow White‘s box office haul, even in the best outcome. But Robert De Niro’s gangster movie is really a bigger box office bomb, statistically speaking.
The Alto Knights Had An Abysmal Opening Weekend At The Box Office
Robert De Niro’s Movie Opened Outside The Top 5
The Alto Knights‘ opening weekend box office figures were horrible. The movie only made $3.1 million at the domestic box office during its first three days of release. The movie didn’t get much help overseas either, as it only made $1.9 million abroad. That gives The Alto Knights a $5 million worldwide box office after its opening weekend. That’s certainly not what Warner Bros. hoped for when they greenlit the period drama from director Barry Levinson and got Robert De Niro to play two roles, increasing the cost of production in the process.
One of the main reasons The Alto Knights got made is because of Warner Bros.’s CEO, David Zaslav. At the same time as he was busy canceling finished movies to get tax breaks, he “championed” that the movie should still happen after taking control of the company in 2022 (via THR). This led to the film’s greenlight with a risky $45 million to $50 million budget. Movies typically need to make two and a half times their budget at the box office to become successful. That put The Alto Knights‘ target box office total at potentially $125 million.
The Alto Knights’ Opening Is Much Worse Than Snow White’s, Despite The Remake’s $200M+ Budget
Snow White Has A Better Chance Of Breaking Even
Image via Disney
Snow White‘s budget may be a lot higher than The Alto Knights, but Disney’s live-action remake is in a better position to potentially earn back a majority of its cost. With a budget reportedly anywhere as low as $209 million and as high as $269 million, Snow White‘s $43 million opening weekend domestically means the film has recouped roughly 15-20% of its budget already. If we look at the movie’s worldwide box office total of $87.3 million, then Disney has made back 32-41% of what it cost to make the movie.
There’s a chance Snow White could at least get its budget back, even if it is a box office loss by the end of its theatrical run. That’s not the same spot in which The Alto Knights now finds itself. The Robert De Niro film has made an even smaller fraction of its budget to this point. The Alto Knights opening weekend domestic numbers amount to only 6% of its budget. Even if we take its global total into consideration, the film has still only made 10% of its budget back.
|
Movie |
Domestic Box Office Total |
Worldwide Box Office Total |
Budget |
% Of Budget Earned Back |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Snow White |
$43 million |
$87.3 million |
$209M-$269M |
15-20% (Domestic) 32-41% (Worldwide) |
|
The Alto Knights |
$3.1 million |
$5 million |
$45M-$50M |
6% (Domestic) 10% (Worldiwde) |
Any way you slice it, The Alto Knights is in a worse spot financially than Snow White. It might not garner the same level of reaction given the lower expectations, but the numbers speak for themselves.
The Alto Knights Continues A Rough Stretch For Warner Bros. At The Box Office
WB Has Struggled To Get Box Office Hits The Last Year
The Alto Knights‘ box office numbers are bad enough on their own, but they get even worse when looking at how Warner Bros. movies have done recently. This year alone, the studio has now had two high-profile films underperform financially. The Alto Knights joins Mickey 17 as a higher-budget genre movie from an Oscar-winning director featuring a lead actor playing dual roles that Warner Bros. distributed and struggled at the box office.
Mickey 17 has done a lot better than The Alto Knights, to be fair, but with its $200 million budget, both movies are on track to lose money for the studio. The biggest win for Warner Bros. this year so far has been Companion, the Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher sci-fi/horror/romance movie that made $36.5 million worldwide. The film is a profitable release for the studio given its $10 million budget. However, there may have also been some hope that it’d be a much bigger hit given the horror genre, early year release date, and strong reviews.
The Alto Knights‘ box office struggles connect to Warner Bros.’s issues in getting audiences to see their movies in theaters. After doing day-and-date streaming and theatrical releases for all тιтles during the pandemic, WB has had some major misfires. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was its last unquestionable box office hit after making over $450 million. The Tim Burton-directed sequel came out in September 2024, so it’s been six months since a Warner Bros. movie made over $200 million worldwide.
While 2024 gave the studio hits early on with Dune: Part Two and Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, it also brought disappointments with Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, The Watchers, Trap, and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. With The Alto Knights, Warner Bros.’s rough stretch continues.
Source: THR
