Up until last week, the next offering from the list of upcoming Disney remakes/re-imaginings was going to be Snow White, which has a cast led by Rachel Zegler as the title protagonist and had been dated for March 2024. However, Snow White has since been pushed back to March 21, 2025, meaning we now have to wait a little under a year and a half for its arrival. In the aftermath of this release date push, it’s rumored that Disney is super nervous about this particular live-action remake.
Take this information with a grain of salt for now, but according to The Daily Mail, Snow White wasn’t delayed chiefly because of the SAG-AFTRA strike, which prevents actors in film and TV productions to promote their projects unless a special deal is reached, but rather because of trying to prevent a “financial disaster.” An insider has claimed to the publication that Disney is supposedly “figuring out what to do” over making what’s described as a $330 million turkey,” and it was even compared to 2019’s Cats, one of film history’s most notorious box office bombs. This insider alleged:
Disney had to delay Snow White because they have spent so much money on it, and if it is a financial disaster at the box office, it might single handedly cripple future remakes and potential Snow White sequels that they have planned.
Snow White has certainly been dealing with its fair share of controversy and criticism of late, from rumors of Rachel Zegler leaving the movie being debunked, to David Hand, whose father was co-director of 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, saying that his dad and Walt Disney would “very much disagree” with this take. As far as the claims in Daily Mail article go, it was pointed out how Disney had originally said it was taking a “different approach” to the Seven Dwarfs in order to avoid “reinforcing negative stereotypes,” with this info being shared in response to Game of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage calling the original Snow White fairy tale a “fucking backwards story.” Leaked set photos then made it seem as though the Dwarfs has been replaced with an assortment of men and women of various sizes.
However, as seen in the first official Snow White still, we are getting the Seven Dwarfs after all, albeit as CGI creations rather than played by actual dwarfs. This unnamed insider says the people behind the remake are wanting to learn from the mistakes of 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog, which was famously pushed back in order to redesign the title speedster after his original design was heavily criticized. The insider continued:
They just need some time to figure it all out – plus we are still dealing with the strikes. It is a perfect storm right now, but they are embracing change and anticipate it all to work out and exceed expectations. The work starts now. They also had to delay the movie because they not only have to make it as best as they can, but there are a lot of toys that they have to prepare, so they need the dwarves and the rest of the characters to look exactly like who they are supposed to be.
Assuming all this information is accurate, then Disney certainly has enough time to iron out these alleged kinks in Snow White now that it’s been pushed to 2025, as there’s no way all the work could have been finished in time for an early 2024 release. Rachel Zegler’s costars in Snow White include Gal Gadot as The Evil Queen, Ansu Kabia as The Huntsman and Andrew Burnap as a new character named Jonathan, who’s reportedly replacing The Prince. Marc Webb is directing, and Greta Gerwig and Erin Cressida Wilson wrote the script.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on Snow White, including if any of these claims are verified. Stream the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, along with many other movies and TV shows hailing from the Mouse House, with your Disney+ subscription.