SNOW WHITE | 03.21.2025 | Disney

[ChipDerby]

The Snow White/Robin Hood comparison is pretty dead on. Stories that are nostalgic... but in name only. You can make a good film with the stories, but so far they're few and far between. Looking at you too, Peter Pan.

[Redolent]

14 hours ago, ChipDerby said:

 

So are people upset that a Queen was cast, when she's actually dead?

I think the Evil Queen has been cast, Snow White’s stepmother?

 

Agreed about the lack of nostalgia, although some people seem to absolutely adore that film. I don’t. I have a young daughter and I have zero interest in showing her the traditional Snow White - not because “girl-bossism” is the only message I care about, but because the story and character is so overwhelmingly passive that it’s not worth bothering with.

 

Edited August 9, 2023 by Redolent

[PlatnumRoyce]

2 hours ago, ZeroHour said:

his is a film that's about 50% dwarf (and woodland creature) slapstick comedy that would likely bore modern audiences. 

Why? Slapstick comedy is pretty timeless and that's pretty much the heart of the Despicable Me franchise. It's not the greatest fit for the "live action reboot" but I think there's clearly a role for animation aimed at a younger audience. The slapstick elements of Snow White remained a staple of how Disney repackaged segments of old films on home video.

That strikes me as the easiest part to lean into even if you're looking to significantly rework portions of the "main story."

[ZeroHour]

3 minutes ago, PlatnumRoyce said:

Why? Slapstick comedy is pretty timeless and that's pretty much the heart of the Despicable Me franchise. It's not the greatest fit for the "live action reboot" but I think there's clearly a role for animation aimed at a younger audience. The slapstick elements of Snow White remained a staple of how Disney repackaged segments of old films on home video.

That strikes me as the easiest part to lean into even if you're looking to significantly rework portions of the "main story."

I'm not arguing that slapstick comedy is bad or that younger audiences don't deserve movies aimed toward them. Illumination has built their animation empire on those sorts of films. But the slapstick in Snow White has aged poorly. Those segments are just very boring now. That was even the sentiment amongst my peers when I was a kid in the 90s. I really doubt they hold much appeal for gen z. Disney can get away with recycling a lot of stuff from the Renaissance movies, but they're not going to have a 20 minute segment in a modern blockbuster about the dwarves taking a bath. It's similar to how when they remade Cinderella that that movie never ground to a halt for 15 minutes so the mice and Lucifer could do a whole Tom & Jerry routine like they do in the animated film. Audience expectations, even among children, are different than they were 85 years ago.

[Valonqar]

Some facts:

 

In 2012, two reimaged Snow White movies were released. I assume that media must've had a field day with this. Anyway, both starred big names and both tried to be modern. So here are some stats:

 

Mirror Mirror starring Julia Roberts, Lilly Ciollins and Armie Hammer opened in March 2012. It opened with 18M, made 65M dom and 183M WW on a reported 85M budget.

 

Snow White and the Huntsman where SW became a warrior, had Kstew hot off Twilight Saga, Chris Hemswort hot of The Avengers a month ago, and Charlize Theron. It opened end of May/beginning of June 2012. It also got an added buzz when KStew was caught cheating on RPatz with the movie's married director about 2 months into the movie's release. It opened with 56M, made 155M dom and 396M WW on a reported 170M budget.

 

So here we have 2 modernized versions, with big star power, that did not do hot to put it mildly. Maybe people didn't care for SW. Maybe they didn't care for reimaging or type of reimaging. Maybe 2 SW in one year created fatigue. Either way, the movies didn't set the boxoffice on fire. 

 

I'm not saying that this remake will flop because other 2 reimaged ones didn't do very well just that something could be learned from these numbers. 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2023 by Valonqar

[ZeroHour]

Yeah Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman are great examples of how Snow White as an IP falls into the same space occupied by other IP like Robin Hood and King Arthur. Everyone knows what they are, awareness is super high, but actual interest is incredibly low. There's no preexisting audience clamoring for these characters to come back to the big screen. In absence of that, you need to have a take on the material that's compelling enough to ignite interest. Coming up with that is easier said than done though.

 

(I guess Snow White and the Huntsman did do well enough to get that weird sequel/spinoff movie that completely bombed)

[Valonqar]

3 minutes ago, ZeroHour said:

Yeah Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman are great examples of how Snow White as an IP falls into the same space occupied by other IP like Robin Hood and King Arthur. Everyone knows what they are, awareness is super high, but actual interest is incredibly low. There's no preexisting audience clamoring for these characters to come back to the big screen. In absence of that, you need to have a take on the material that's compelling enough to ignite interest. Coming up with that is easier said than done though.

 

(I guess Snow White and the Huntsman did do well enough to get that weird sequel/spinoff movie that completely bombed)

 

Good point about IPs like RH and KA. High awareness, low interest. 

[JustLurking]

I do not particularly mind changes (not like I even care for the original) and I think this might be a surprisingly interesting take given that Gerwig's involved but it feels like a loser commercially imo, I feel like the brand isn't strong/has no nostalgia and it will generate a lot of controversy between cast and no dwarves. But who knows, maybe they can make it work.

[marveldcfox]

Kong will stomp all over this.

[PlatnumRoyce]

1 hour ago, Valonqar said:

Some facts:

 

In 2012, two reimaged Snow White movies were released. I assume that media must've had a field day with this. Anyway, both starred big names and both tried to be modern. So here are some stats:

 

Mirror Mirror starring Julia Roberts, Lilly Ciollins and Armie Hammer opened in March 2012. It opened with 18M, made 65M dom and 183M WW on a reported 85M budget.

 

Snow White and the Huntsman where SW became a warrior, had Kstew hot off Twilight Saga, Chris Hemswort hot of The Avengers a month ago, and Charlize Theron. It opened end of May/beginning of June 2012. It also got an added buzz when KStew was caught cheating on RPatz with the movie's married director about 2 months into the movie's release. It opened with 56M, made 155M dom and 396M WW on a reported 170M budget.

 

So here we have 2 modernized versions, with big star power, that did not do hot to put it mildly.

I don't agree about Huntsman because you forgot an absolutely critical stat: "B" cinemascore, 49% RT/6.1 imdb average. Huntsman making $400M and matching prometheus (without being able to lean on Disney visual inspirations) was a soft vindication of the concept not a refutation of it. However, it really was selling itself as an action dark-fantasy which makes comps a bit messy. If Huntman had an A- cinemascore, it's probably outgrossing Brave/Ted for ~12th place WW in 2012.

 

1 hour ago, ZeroHour said:

I'm not arguing that slapstick comedy is bad or that younger audiences don't deserve movies aimed toward them. Illumination has built their animation empire on those sorts of films. But the slapstick in Snow White has aged poorly. Those segments are just very boring now. That was even the sentiment amongst my peers when I was a kid in the 90s. I really doubt they hold much appeal for gen z. Disney can get away with recycling a lot of stuff from the Renaissance movies, but they're not going to have a 20 minute segment in a modern blockbuster about the dwarves taking a bath. It's similar to how when they remade Cinderella that that movie never ground to a halt for 15 minutes so the mice and Lucifer could do a whole Tom & Jerry routine like they do in the animated film. Audience expectations, even among children, are different than they were 85 years ago.

There's just a brute aesthetic disagreement here. I don't know about Gen-Z but, as a fellow 90s kid, I recall those aspects of older Disney movies as holding up well/wasn't aware of they being received poorly by others. I really think they've made a weird mistake by mostly cutting the slapstick french Chief, Cinderella mice, etc. (though at least Cinderella has the excuse of being moderately budgeted in a way that isn't compatible with including the animated mice). 

Edited August 9, 2023 by PlatnumRoyce

[Arlborn]

50 minutes ago, ZeroHour said:

 

 

(I guess Snow White and the Huntsman did do well enough to get that weird sequel/spinoff movie that completely bombed)

I came here pretty much to say this, that Huntsman must have done well for the studio if they thought it deserved a spinoff. Weird spinoff though.

 

But it’s interesting that from the two of them, the one with the most different take on the story is the one that made nearly 400M. I’m thinking if Mirror, Mirror didn’t come out nearly at the same time it could have done even better, so there’s that.

[Arlborn]

I actually liked Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur, but yeah it bombed.

 

At least the IP had a good 5-season TV show in 2008.

[YM!]

Depending on budget, it should be alright. Thinking around 150-200m domestically, 350-500m worldwide. Don’t think Snow White is that hot a brand in the first place so an overhaul is needed, who knows if the script and songs are good and the marketing is strong, around Cinderella/TLM is a fair bet.

Edited August 9, 2023 by YM!

[Valonqar]

13 minutes ago, Arlborn said:

I came here pretty much to say this, that Huntsman must have done well for the studio if they thought it deserved a spinoff. Weird spinoff though.

 

But it’s interesting that from the two of them, the one with the most different take on the story is the one that made nearly 400M. I’m thinking if Mirror, Mirror didn’t come out nearly at the same time it could have done even better, so there’s that.

 

Hemsworth and KStew were huge at the time. The Avengers came out a month before SW&TH and the last Twilight 6 months later. So that factored in the interest though obviously far smaller than of those other franchises. And while I'm sure that Disney will splatter "From the director/writer of Barbie" in the promo, since Gerwig is their biggest name associated with the movie, doubtful that her full vision will be at display considering that these remakes are always safe and there were other writers involved. So all in all, the movie cam't bank on star power but previews. 

 

Agreed with @YM! that Cinderella/TLM range is a fair bet. For the ceiling. It could go lower.

Edited August 9, 2023 by Valonqar

[ZeroHour]

9 minutes ago, PlatnumRoyce said:

There's just a brute aesthetic disagreement here. I don't know about Gen-Z but, as a fellow 90s kid, I recall those aspects of older Disney movies as holding up well/wasn't aware of they being received poorly by others. I really think they've made a weird mistake by mostly cutting the slapstick french Chief, Cinderella mice, etc. (though at least Cinderella has the excuse of being moderately budgeted in a way that isn't compatible with including the animated mice). 

Haha yeah that's fair! I won't make the mistake of assuming my own experiences are universal. I remember as a kid that I could have watched things like TLM or the Great Mouse Detective all day long, but at that age the only thing worse than having to watch Snow White was probably Fantasia. Of course, now I'm married to a viola player and have heard enough classical music that I can appreciate Fantasia a lot more.

[MovieMan89]

1 hour ago, Valonqar said:

Some facts:

 

In 2012, two reimaged Snow White movies were released. I assume that media must've had a field day with this. Anyway, both starred big names and both tried to be modern. So here are some stats:

 

Mirror Mirror starring Julia Roberts, Lilly Ciollins and Armie Hammer opened in March 2012. It opened with 18M, made 65M dom and 183M WW on a reported 85M budget.

 

Snow White and the Huntsman where SW became a warrior, had Kstew hot off Twilight Saga, Chris Hemswort hot of The Avengers a month ago, and Charlize Theron. It opened end of May/beginning of June 2012. It also got an added buzz when KStew was caught cheating on RPatz with the movie's married director about 2 months into the movie's release. It opened with 56M, made 155M dom and 396M WW on a reported 170M budget.

 

So here we have 2 modernized versions, with big star power, that did not do hot to put it mildly. Maybe people didn't care for SW. Maybe they didn't care for reimaging or type of reimaging. Maybe 2 SW in one year created fatigue. Either way, the movies didn't set the boxoffice on fire. 

 

I'm not saying that this remake will flop because other 2 reimaged ones didn't do very well just that something could be learned from these numbers. 

 

 

It was a fascinating case, honestly. Mirror Mirror had abysmal marketing and everyone wrote it off pre-release. Yet the movie itself was surprisingly charming and fun in a light-hearted way. The damage was already done though with it, it wasn’t going to recover.

 

Meanwhile, Huntsman had an absolutely EPIC marketing campaign and trailers that even had me out here thinking it might be the next LOTR fantasy epic or something, and I was entirely uninterested before the marketing. Then the movie came out and sucked hard (I will always maintain Stewart is one of the worst Hollywood leading ladies of all time), and so there went all the goodwill built in marketing and it didn’t hold well or end up doing all that great either. If only the two could have swapped either their marketing campaigns or quality. 
 

All that said, Huntsman I guess at least does prove that it is possible to make Snow White in the modern day look appealing in marketing. 

[Eric Lasagna]

40 minutes ago, Arlborn said:

I came here pretty much to say this, that Huntsman must have done well for the studio if they thought it deserved a spinoff. Weird spinoff though.

 

My dad watches that Huntsman movie once in a while when it pops up on cable TV. Think I've seen 20 or so sporadic minutes of it when I'm catching up with him to say hi. Not a lot to judge on of course, but I'm...very confused as to why my dad watches it.

[ThePrinceIsOnFire]

Snow White and the Huntsman had a super-hot Hemsworth coming from the mega popularity of Thor as a character, possibly the most beautiful blonde actress ever (Sharon Stone and Michelle Pfeiffer would be great picks for that title too, though) at the peak of her career in Charlize Theron, and Kristen Stewart as a teen idol and "it" girl of her era (people might not remember that now, but she, like Watson and Knightley, was everywhere back in the day and had more of a crossover appeal than let's say today's Zendaya, who is mostly known by Gen Z and the twitter crowd).

Besides, there was a novelty factor about a Snow White adaptation, since an hollywood big screen one had never been done up to that point; yet despite all of that AND the great marketing that the movie had (with a strong focus on action and the fantasy epic vibes, in hopes of capturing the elusive 15-45 male crowd), it was only a modest success.

 

It would be insane to think that a Snow White adaptation in 2023, with no star power and limited eye candy (there is no Hemsworth for the girls to thirst over here), and a less epic/fantasy mature tone will gross as much as SWATH did back in its day. 

I also feel like the Cinderella/Little mermaid ceiling is way too high because while also female-skewing they are both more beloved/popular IP than Snow White, and Cinderella had a broad international appeal with its tone/characters being quite faithful to the original, while The Little Mermaid had a stronger domestic support, partially thanks to its inclusive casting choices. 

Snow White has neither the nostalgia/faithful adaptation going on for it internationally, nor is it likely to generate a large support from the latino community to boost its US box office. Long story short, there is no way this comes close to 500M WW or even 400M WW; mark my words, the best case scenario would be a a Dumbo- like total gross (about 350M WW) but it will almost certainly fall under the 300M WW mark. 

Edited August 9, 2023 by ThePrinceIsOnFire

[dudalb]

4 hours ago, ChipDerby said:

The Snow White/Robin Hood comparison is pretty dead on. Stories that are nostalgic... but in name only. You can make a good film with the stories, but so far they're few and far between. Looking at you too, Peter Pan.

Also there have been a lot of Robin Hood movies made, not so many Snow White movies.

I have a theory that for various reasons; the Classic Disney Animated films simply do not  fit into the Liva Action Remake mode as well as the Renassiance films.

Of course, I plain old don't like any of the live action remakes.......

 

As to the dwarve constroversy  the real issue is from the stills that have leaked the Dwarves look like absolute shit. Has nothing to do with race; you had multic ethnic casting of dwarves, elves, etc in "The Rings Of Power" and that worked fine..(though IMHO the sereis as a whole was a Failure) the problem is from what he have seen the new "dwarves"look terrible.

I also think the whole 'The SNow White storyis baiscally racist" is silly and displays a ignorance of the histporical background here, but that is a battle I don't want to fight.

Only reason I might consider seeing this is if Gal Gadot chews th scenary as the Evil Queen. That could be amusing.

[dudalb]

37 minutes ago, Eric the Turtle said:

My dad watches that Huntsman movie once in a while when it pops up on cable TV. Think I've seen 20 or so sporadic minutes of it when I'm catching up with him to say hi. Not a lot to judge on of course, but I'm...very confused as to why my dad watches it.

The Huntsmen movie was only a modest sucess,it was not the huge hit some people here think.