The Snow White remake proved to be one of Hollywood’s biggest bombs in years – and a source close to star Gal Gadot exclusively tells Life & Style that she’s feeling stung and alarmed to say the least.
“Even for an actress with a perfect reputation, the poor performance of Snow White would be a major blow. But for Gal, who relied on the movie to put her back on top of the A-list, it’s been incredibly difficult to see the film fail to connect with audiences all over the world,” the insider reveals. Gal, 40, played the Evil Queen in the live action remake opposite Rachel Zegler‘s Snow White.
“This truly is the worst-case scenario for what could have happened with this project and it’s pushing Gal into a place where she has no choice but to reinvent her Hollywood persona and rethink the kind of projects she signs up to make,” the source says.
“That’s a lot easier said than done in this very competitive marketplace for leading actresses. What Gal needs, badly, is a famous filmmaker who can collaborate with her to update her image and rebuild her audience now that her time as Wonder Woman is over and done.”
Gal was introduced as the iconic DC Comics character in 2016’s Batman v Superman. Her 2017 Wonder Woman film was a box office and critical smash. Gal reprised the role in 2017’s Justice League and 2020’s Wonder Woman 1984.
The source says Gal is hustling to land her next big role.
“She’s not being timid about this process – she’s picking up the phone and she’s chasing down projects, but everybody knows she needs a hit and it needs to be a film in theaters, not just streaming, to send the message to Hollywood that people will still show up and pay good money to see her work,” the insider reveals.
“Every studio is skeptical of her right now, and for the first time since she broke through in 2017, she has something to prove. It’s really lit a fire under her, and she’s got some big decisions ahead of her in order to turn things around,” the source adds.
Gal has one film in post-production, the thriller Hand of Dante, although it is a supporting role to lead actors Gerard Butler, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa and Al Pacino.
The Israel-born actress has two films in preproduction, including a new take on Cleopatra, as well as two other projects in development, although none rival the box office luster of Wonder Woman or the ill-fated Snow White live action film.
Snow White opened in theaters on March 21, but was met with empty movie houses, poor reviews and $43 million domestic box office weekend. It was meager for a live action Disney movie and a disaster considering the film’s $269.4 million production budget.
In comparison, Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch earned $145.5 million domestically over its first three days in theaters in May.
However, much of the criticism and controversy about the failure Snow White centered on the actress in the title role, as Rachel, 24, made questionable remarks about the film and character long before the movie hit theaters.
In 2022, the West Side Story actress told Extra she had a huge problem with the handsome prince storyline.
“There’s a big focus on her love story with the guy who literally stalks her. Weird, weird. So, we didn’t do that this time,” she said while adding their love story wasn’t going to be part of the live action remake.
A year later, Rachel seemingly dissed the original Disney animated Snow White.
“I just mean that it’s no longer 1937,” Rachel told Variety in September 2023 at Disney’s D23 Expo while Gal looked on. “We absolutely wrote a Snow White that … she’s not going to be saved by the prince, and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love. She’s going to be dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave and true.”
