Disney’s Snow White is coming out next year and what was initially a highly anticipated project is now projected to become the biggest controversy of 2025 even before 2025 even started. The production has been plagued with issues and there has been one controversy after another, and it seems that it is not stopping.

Not that long ago, we reported how the movie’s budget went overboard and how the budget rose to an incredible $269.4 million, which was much more than anyone had anticipated. This fact, of course, decreases the movie’s chances to turn a profit, as you might have guessed.

Still, it seems that things aren’t as horrible as they seem and that there is a silver lining in all of this, as the movie seems to have saved a significant amount of money recently, as a new Forbes article reports. If you want to know what happened, keep reading our report!

As we have reported recently, Snow White‘s budget rose drastically over the past months due to various reasons and it is estimated that it reached a staggering $269.4 million, which means that the movie will have to earn more than $500 million to be considered a profit.

Based on the controversy that is surrounding the film, it is highly unlikely that the movie will earn so much money, but there is still hope if some things align.

But, that is a secondary issue at this point. Namely, at this point, it seems that the movie, which is more of a spender than anything else, actually managed to save Disney some money, as per the latest report by Forbes.

How was this done? Well, we’re not financial reporters like our colleagues at Forbes, but we are going to provide you with as much data as we can and we’re going to be as clear as possible.

The gist of it is that the film was filmed in the United Kingdom and due to that fact, a lot of financial information about the movie is available. How did the movie manage to save money? Well, it seems to have something to do with taxes:

Studios filming in the U.K. benefit from the government’s Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit which gives them a cash reimbursement of up to 25.5% of the money they spend in the country.

To qualify for the reimbursement, movies must pass a points test based on factors such as how many members of the production team are from the U.K. and how much of the post-production work is done there. Furthermore, at least 10% of the core costs of the production need to relate to activities in the U.K. and in order to demonstrate this to the government, studios set up a separate Film Production Company (FPC) there for each picture.

The terms of the reimbursement state that each FPC must be “responsible for pre-production, principal photography and post-production of the film; and for delivery of the completed film” as well as paying for “rights, goods and services in relation to the film.” Studios can’t hide costs in other companies as the terms also state “there can only be one FPC in relation to a film.”

Source: Forbes

So, according to the article, movies filmed in the UK can benefit from a tax return which is quite significant, but there are certain conditions that have to be met, as you can see above. But, the filming process in the UK is somewhat different in the USA, as it seems, and this is how the return is even possible:

As shown in the diagram below, the studio buys the rights to the film from the U.K. company but only gives it approximately 74.5% of the projected production cost. The remaining 25.5% is provided by the studio in the form of a loan. The loan and the revenue from the sale of the rights gives the U.K. company 100% of the production budget for the movie and this sets the scene for the cash reimbursement.

Source: Forbes

As we have said earlier, the budget rose to an incredible amount at one point, and based on all the data we have, the movie seems to have saved around $55.5 million, which is a significant amount of money, although it remains to be seen whether what will have any influence in the future. You can check out all the details in the Forbes article we’ve linked, including some precise numbers.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!