Rachel Zegler‘s early career has seen both big hits and box office bombs. The actress rose from relative obscurity when she was chosen among more than 30,000 applicants through an open casting call on Twitter for the role of Maria in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, making her film debut and earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. However, while it earned much acclaim, the musical remake was released during the pandemic in 2021 and bombed at the box office, making only $76 million against its $100 million budget.

Zegler has expanded her career with several franchise films, playing Anthea in DC’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which was also a box-office failure, making $134 million against its $125 million budget. Later that year, Zegler co-starred as Lucy Gray Baird in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, easily the biggest box office hit of her career, making $349 million against its $100 million budget. Zegler currently stars as the eponymous princess in Disney’s live-action Snow White remake, which is also bombing at the box office with $170 million and counting against its mᴀssive $269 million budget.

Y2K Becomes A Streaming Success

It Ranks 6th On Reelgood’s Charts

Y2K has become a streaming success. Co-written and directed by former Saturday Night Live cast member Kyle Mooney in his directorial debut, A24’s apocalyptic sci-fi comedy follows a group of high school students struggling to survive after the Y2K bug causes all technology around the world to become sentient and rebel against humanity. Y2K‘s cast includes Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, Julian Dennison, The Kid Laroi, Lachlan Watson, Daniel Zolghadri, Mason Gooding, Lauren Balone, Eduardo Franco, and Fred Durst.

Now, after bombing at the box office, the A24 film has become a streaming success on Max. According to Reelgood, Y2K was the sixth most-watched movie on all streaming platforms for the week of April 3–9. It ranks below A Complete Unknown, The Life List, Anora, Tombstone, Holland, and above Wicked, One of Them Days, Heat, and The Substance.

What Y2K’s Streaming Success Means For Rachel Zegler

The Talented Actress Is Unable To Elevate Mediocre Material

The film was a rare misfire for A24, with Y2K reviews criticizing its inability to deliver consistent laughs amid its chaotic mix of tones. Though Y2K bombed at the box office, its streaming success comes at an interesting time when Rachel Zegler’s Snow White is also bombing at the box office, with reviews mostly praising her radiant performance, but criticizing the live-action remake’s timid take on the original story and a few clumsy stylistic decisions. Similar to Snow White, Rachel Zegler is unable to elevate Y2K‘s mediocre material, but her presence alone is certainly garnering the interest of audiences.

Source: Reelgood