Box Office: Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot's Snow White drops to No. 3 in Japan as Wicked leads, Doraemon stays strong at No. 2

Snow White dropped to No. 3 in Japan with a steep decline after its holiday debut, while Wicked reclaimed the top spot and Doraemon held steady at No. 2 with strong family appeal.

Written by Seema Sinha , Entertainment Journalist

Published on Mar 22, 2025 | 12:30 PM IST | 4.5K

Picture Courtesy: Disney

At the Japan box office, post-holiday Friday saw domestic offering Doraemon and two Western musical epics, Wicked and Snow White, in close competition. After benefiting tremendously from families and children being off on the National Spring Holiday on March 20, the 44th Doraemon film, Nobita’s Art World Tales, slipped to No. 2 on its third Friday with a USD 350K cume. Wicked climbed back to No. 1 with USD 380K on its third Friday in the region, while debutant Snow White fell to No. 3 with a USD 340K gross, a 62% drop from its Thursday holiday opening day.

The latter film’s total after two days in the market stands at USD 1.2 million. With mixed word of mouth, it is eyeing a USD 2.3 to USD 2.7 million four-day opening. Meanwhile, Doraemon’s total so far in the home market stands at USD 12.7 million, followed by Wicked’s USD 11.1 million tally.

Wicked, for those unversed, grossed over USD 700 million worldwide before rolling out in Japan. The film is a favorite among Japanese viewers because of its lighthearted storyline, grand visual canvas, and involvement of superstar actors like Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, and Jonathan Bailey. The project also stars Jeff Goldblum, Peter Dinklage, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, and Michelle Yeoh.

Snow White, meanwhile, stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, who both faced significant flak for their personal and political opinions. While the former was criticized for speaking ill of the iconic 1937 Disney offering that inspired the latest live-action, the latter was bashed for her Zionist views.

Snow White, however, premiered to rave reviews from critics in Los Angeles on March 15, with film pundits saying the venture is not at all a bad attempt. We’ll have to see if the reviews help draw the masses to theaters in North America this weekend, where the film is targeting a USD 45 million opening.

Written by Erin Cressida Wilson and directed by Marc Webb, the Snow White remake was first announced in October 2016. Filming took place primarily in London between March and July 2022, with pick-up tapings in June 2024 after a production halt due to the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Andrew Burnap also stars in the endeavor, playing the titular character’s love interest, assisting her in taking the Evil Queen (Gadot) down.

Snow White is an expensive affair with a USD 250 million production budget. The movie will look to register a global opening weekend of USD 120 million and aim to continue the momentum in the later weeks to turn a profit.

It has another big-banner competition on its way, though—Warner Bros.’ A Minecraft Movie, starring Jason Momoa, Jack Black, and more. The April 4 entry has been forecasted by box office trackers to log a domestic opening of USD 55 to 75 million and a global three-day collection of USD 150 million. If that materializes before Snow White has made a profit, it could spell trouble for Disney.

Are you catching Snow White in theaters soon? Do let us know!