'Snow White' & 'The Chosen': Is There a Sea Change in Entertainment?

It's a tale of two visions of what entertainment should be -- a pair of timeless stories looking to appeal to modern audiences, but in very different ways. In one corner, Disney's reimagined Snow White; in the other, The Chosen, a fresh but faithful retelling of the Gospels.

Let's Look at the Numbers

In its first weekend of release, the supposedly updated and more relevant live-action version of Snow White has essentially done a critical and box-office faceplant. But, part one of season 5 of The Chosen, hitting theaters on March 28, looks to do just the opposite.

From BoxOfficeTheory.com:

The Chosen: Last Supper – Part 1 is poised to deliver the best launch yet for the faith-based series being distributed under Fathom Entertainment’s banner. The previous four seasons have increasingly built upon their theatrical success as the episodic launches are now viewed as appointment viewing for their core audience. Counting Thursday’s first day of earnings (which Fathom often excludes from the weekend, unlike traditional studio Thursday previews), the first of three Last Supper parts looks likely to net more than $10 million by Sunday’s end.

Now, to be fair, Snow White did bring in $87M worldwide -- including $43M domestically -- in its first weekend (and a bit more since), but that's against a budget of $270M (and about $100M more for advertising and promotion). Also, it's a major release from one of Hollywood's most hallowed studios.

By contrast, while the independently produced The Chosen hasn't formally reported budget figures, funder the Come and See Foundation at least met its fundraising target of $40M for all eight episodes of season 5, with a target of $56M for season six.

As for Disney's reworked princess saga, BoxOfficeTheory says:

As far as Snow White is concerned, it will retain many premium screens but word of mouth is decidedly complex to assess among casual family audiences. A steep drop is expected despite any presence of notable competition.

UPDATE 3/31/2025: Snow White fell 66% in its second weekend, and The Chosen: The Last Supper debuted at number 3, with a better-than-expected showing.

From Variety: “The Chosen: Last Supper,” a faith-based TV series about Jesus and his disciples, debuted in third place with a better-than-expected $11.5 million from 2,235 cinemas over the weekend. Fathom Events is rolling out the show’s fifth season in cinemas with two-week runs of episodes.

It's all relative, of course, but dollar for dollar, Jesus and the 12 Apostles are vastly outpacing Snow White and the seven "magical creatures."

Something different is definitely happening in entertainment.

Are Things Really Finally Changing?

There does seem to be a shift in the wind, with the growth of such faith-centric projects as The Chosen and Prime Video's new House of David, Tim Allen's politically diverse ABC comedy Shifting Gears, writer/producer Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone and his other heartland dramas, and faith-forward films like Sound of Freedom and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

Some commentators attribute it to political changes, but all of these projects long predate current events.

More than likely, it's a realization -- driven by the financial success of these projects -- that there's an underserved audience out there hungry for content that reflects traditional values.

Christian creatives, like The Chosen creator Dallas Jenkins, and Jon Erwin, a partner in the new Wonder Project (House of David), who have credibility with the often mistrustful faith audience, are getting the opportunity to work with mainstream studios and streamers.

Way back in 2013, the success of Mark Burnett and Roma Downey's The Bible miniseries sparked interest in all this, but it's taken a while for the industry at large to get past whatever issues it has with backing stories focusing on faith and traditional values.

Even Hallmark Channel, whose Christmas movies have barely touched faith, is premiering Journey to You on April 19, about a young woman (Erin Cahill) walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail. It's one of the films connected to the Hallmark Dayspring faith-focused card collection.

Where Does This All Lead?

Success builds on success.

Just to name a bit of what's happening on TV, The Chosen is spawning spin-off shows; House of David has been renewed for a second season, with more productions on the way from the Wonder Project's partnership with Prime Video; and streamer Fox Nation partnered with Martin Scorsese to profile The Saints (three more episodes premiere April 4), under its Fox Faith banner.

More seasons of current family- and faith-friendly dramas, like All Creatures Great and Small, Father Brown, Sister Boniface Mysteries, and When Calls the Heart roll out.

As previously reported, there's even a remake of Little House on the Prairie coming for Netflix, which recently did Mary, a scripted drama about Our Lady's early life.

Even the often aggressively secular PBS got in the game, with Dante: Inferno to Paradise, a 2024 docudrama about the medieval Italian poet Dante Alighieri. Directed by Ric Burns (brother of Ken Burns), it took a serious look at how Dante's Catholic faith informed the writing of The Divine Comedy, his allegorical poem about Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory.

At the movies, Angel Studios is evolving into a serious distributor of faith-based theatrical films (like the animated The King of Kings on April 11).

Major studios have faith-based divisions, like Kingdom Story Company at Lionsgate, which recently released The Unbreakable Boy, starring Zachary Levi, and Sony's Affirm Films.

And, after many years of speculation, recent reporting suggests that director Mel Gibson's long-anticipated sequel to The Passion of the Christ, called The Resurrection of the Christ, finally begins shooting this summer at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios.

There's no lack of edgy, envelope-pushing stuff out there -- and that won't change anytime soon -- but it looks like entertainment aimed at the broad middle of America, and especially Christian audiences, may finally be regaining its rightful place in the mix.

Image: Adobe Stock

Kate O’Hare, a longtime entertainment journalist, is Social Media Content Manager and Blog Editor at Family Theater Productions.