Danica Patrick had a short but strong reaction to the live-action Snow White remakes’ low box office numbers.
The former race car driver, 43, reposted a video criticizing the film and star Rachel Zegler’s performance via her Instagram Story on Sunday, March 30. Patrick seemingly threw shade at the actress with the post’s caption, writing, “Bye bye.” (Us Weekly has reached out to Patrick and Zegler’s reps for comment.)
Zegler, 23, stars as Disney’s OG princess in the live-action adaptation, which hit theaters on March 21. According to the Associated Press, the Mark Webb-directed film dropped 66 percent in its second box office weekend, making $143.1 million globally out of its reported $250 million production budget. Though the movie debuted at No. 1, the Jason Statham thriller A Working Man took over Snow White’s top box office spot.
Snow White marks Disney’s latest live-action remake of its classic animated films. Several of the adaptations have scored major box office success, with films such as 2017’s Beauty and the Beast, 2019’s The Lion King and 2019’s Aladdin grossing over $1 billion throughout their theatrical runs.
The movie has been surrounded by controversy over the years. Zegler, for her part, faced racist remarks for her casting as the princess, who is depicted as a white woman in 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Actor Peter Dinklage expressed concerns over the film’s portrayal of dwarfism back in January 2022, while the son of the original film’s director, David Hand, criticized the movie for being “woke” and “insulting” in an August 2023 interview with The Telegraph.
Zegler also went viral for comments she made about how the live-action version would differ from the animated film in a September 2022 interview with Variety. “It’s no longer 1937, and we absolutely wrote a Snow White that’s not gonna be saved by the prince, and she’s not gonna be dreaming about true love,” she said. “She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and the leader that her late father told her she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave, and true. And so, it’s just a really incredible story for young people everywhere to see themselves in.”
Earlier this year, Zegler told Vogue Mexico that she interpreted criticism of the film as “passion” from fans, stating, “What an honor to be a part of something that people feel so passionately about. We’re not always going to agree with everyone who surrounds us and all we can do is our best.”
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Zegler posed for red carpet pics with costar Gal Gadot, who plays the Evil Queen, at the film’s Los Angeles premiere earlier this month. However, fans spotted that the West Side Story star excluded Gadot, 39, from an Instagram tribute she posted for the movie’s cast and crew on March 20. The exclusion comes amid a rumored feud between the actresses, neither of whom have publicly addressed the speculation.
“This movie was a life-changing experience that has held about four years of my career,” Zegler wrote alongside behind-the-scenes photos and clips. “The growing up you do from the age of twenty (when i was cast) to twenty-three (the age i am now) cannot be accurately described, yet they exist here on film forever.”
She continued, “We had the greatest crew in the world on this movie. it cannot be overstated. this photo dump doesn’t even dig into the fun, the magic, and the love that was shared throughout this process. but it’s a start. ‘snow white’ is now in theaters. it’s a huge chunk of my heart and it’s now yours. i hope you enjoy and feel the magic we were lucky enough to live each day. and remember, you’re the one who can fill the world with sunshine.”
