The Disney Snow White Remake Is Heading For Disaster

The Disney Snow White Remake is heading for disaster, and everyone knows it. By this point, it is no secret that people are tired of Disney rehashing old classics. While it was fun initially with Jungle Book and Lion King, no one cares anymore. While Disney as a corporation is still highly profitable and in no danger of losing money, the same cannot be said about the movie studio. Releasing a movie under the Marvel or Disney Banner is no longer guaranteed to bring success. There are obvious reasons for this. When all you do is release your old titles while changing everything that made the original special, people will eventually stop watching.

While we still know little about the new Snow White Remake, enough has been said to turn fans away. One of the biggest concerns fans have is Disney’s dedication to the source material. Most likely, they do not care if Snow White makes some changes. What people do care about is senseless pandering and the film becoming overly preachy. When you watch a Disney movie, people want to switch off and just enjoy themselves. That becomes hard to do when what you are watching is filled with social and political messaging.

This also has nothing to do with a more diverse casting, which Disney has the right to explore. Instead, much of the outrage centers around the apparent distaste for allowing Snow White to be a story centered around true love. Lead actress Rachel Zegler is on record stating that Snow White will not be waiting on True Love. She will move away from the weird and creepy Prince Charming. This will be a story about fierce independence.

The Snow White Disaster

While there is nothing wrong with telling a story about a fearless woman scowaring the lands, it simply is not Snow White’s story. If that is the story you want to tell, you should consider telling it through a new IP. Luckily, Disney is starting to realize this. While they might be realizing this late, it is still a start. From the beginning, it was clear that the budget for Snow White was too high. The budget for the film alone is reported to be $330 million. Usually, you need to double the production budget to factor in advertising and marketing. Then, you also need to factor in the reshoots.

With all of that considered, the movie will have to make over half a billion dollars just to break even. Based on current Disney movie trends, they likely will not make their money back. Disney is also under pressure not only to break even. Investors expect them to turn over a profit. Due to this panic, producers know they cannot stay the course and keep calling fans bad words if they don’t like a certain show or movie. Recently, it was announced that Snow White will once again be delayed. Several factors play into this decision.

Firstly is the current strike. Since most actors are still not working, Disney cannot promote the movie. Actors are refusing to do any type of promotional work until their demands are met. This makes it difficult to garner any real hype around movies. The second reason is reshooting. Snow White is facing a massive overhaul in an attempt to appeal to more traditional fans. These shootings also cost extra money, which means it is even less likely that the movie will make a profit.

The Snow White Reshoot

One image that has been making the rounds is an image of what is supposed to be the seven dwarfs. It depicts seven people who look nothing like what we are used to. While some reports suggest that this band of people are not the actual dwarfs, many still felt concerned. Certain reports suggested that the circulated picture, in fact, represented another group of magical creatures that live in the woods. However, since Disney never corrected the record once the picture leaked, most still believe that this photo is Disney’s version of the seven dwarfs.

Disney also made a statement when the movie was announced, saying that they would not cast any dwarfs as they deemed it offensive. While they got a mass amount of backlash for this, they stuck to their guns. However, recently, they released a new promotional photo that showed Zegler surrounded by the classical-looking CGI dwarfs. While some claim that this was always Disney’s vision, others say that this is part of the rewrites they are busy with. However, there is no certain way of telling; I also believe that Disney did not always plan to add CGI dwarfs.

It is clear that the original leaked picture is what they had in mind. However, after mass backlash, they decided to backtrack and make a few changes. People believe that it is too late, but I think that there are still a few things that they can do. If you are upset with the direction of the film and Disney takes steps to listen and fix it, it is at least worth mentioning. Otherwise, we will just be angry for the sake of being angry.

The Snow White Remake Changes

It is worth mentioning that Disney will not be the first film to backtrack and make changes to characters. After Sonic got mass backlash for their depiction of the hedgehog, they released a statement and made changes. This decision was widely praised, and the movie ended up doing great. However, I will mention that the character design was the only issue with the film. With Snow White, the seven dwarfs are but one of the many problems with the movie. Some people also dislike the negative attitude Rachel Zegler has towards Prince Charming and the original.

While I do not believe that Rachel Zegler needs to be familiar with the original source material, you should at least not go out of your way to call it creepy and weird. Rachel Zegler’s job is to act. It is the job of the director, producer, and writer to know the source material. However, Zegler is responsible for bringing Snow White to life. She is the main face of the movie, and thus, it is not a good look if it sounds like you have a mass distaste for the character you are playing. Unfortunately, simply changing the drafts might not be enough.

I vaguely recall that, back in the day, people complained about Shrek’s voice when that movie was announced. Some did not like the fact that Shrek did not have an accent. Dream Works delayed the project and rewrote certain parts. Those changes ended up making Shrek one of the most successful movies of all time. The question is, can Disney still save Snow White? While nothing is impossible, it will be an uphill battle.

Conclusion

Snow White will not be released until 2025. This means that the movie is facing at least a full-year delay. With reshooting taking place, it will still be some time until we see our first official trailer. I am sure there will be a massive directional shift behind the scenes. I am willing to bet that they are not just rewriting the dwarfs but likely Prince Charming as well.

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