A new report claims that Disney bosses delayed the upcoming Snow White film starring Rachel Zegler an entire because they feared the film would be a “financial disaster.”
At the end of October, The Hollywood Reporter detailed that The Walt Disney Company delayed Snow White an entire year from March 22, 2024 to March 21, 2025.
The outlet’s Pamela McClintock alleged at the time that the delay was due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
Along with the announcement that the film would be delayed, Disney also shared a first look at Zegler alongside 7 CGI dwarfs.
Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Snow White (2025), Walt Disney Studios
However, a new report from The Daily Mail alleges that the film was delayed because Disney is “figuring out what to do.”
An anonymous source told the outlet, “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.
“They also have to remove themselves from the bad taste in the mouths of online critics and want to instead deliver a great film and get to a point where they get it right,” the source continued.
“They realize that they were overthinking things and are now reigning it all in a little bit more,” the source asserted. “They just need some time to figure it all out – plus we are still dealing with the strikes.”
The insider went on, “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,” the source alleged.
The Seven Dwarfs in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Walt Disney Studios
The Snow White film was rightfully being lampooned for a number of reasons with actress Rachel Zegler and her comments about the adaptation being at the top of the list.
In September 2022 at the D23 Expo, Zegler detailed how screenwriter Greta Gerwig planned to completely change the film from the original 1937 animated release.
She derided the film describing it as dated, denigrated the prince as a stalker, and took umbrage with the film’s love story. Zegler also made it clear the film would be changing the definition of fair and discarding the moral lesson vanity, and would be reinterpreted as a sense of justice. She also detailed how the movie would be about an inner struggle of Snow White as she desired to become a good leader.
Ansel Elgort as Tony and Rachel Zegler as Maria in 20th Century Studios’ WEST SIDE STORY.
She told Extra TV, “The original cartoon came out in 1937 and very evidently so. There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird. Weird. So we didn’t do that this time.”
After being asked about the Prince, she said, “We have a different approach to what I’m sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because like we cast a guy in the movie, Andrew Burnap, great dude.”
She continued, “It’s one of those things that I think everyone’s going to have their assumptions about what it’s actually going to be, but it’s really not about the love story at all, which is really, really wonderful. And whether or not she finds love along the way is anybody’s guess until 2024. All of Andrew’s scenes could get. Who knows? It’s Hollywood, baby!”
“It’s an inner journey that she goes on to find her true self. And she meets a lot of people along the way that make the journey really incredible,” she concluded.
Zegler would go on to make similar comments to Variety informing the outlet, “I just mean it’s no longer 1937, and we absolutely wrote a Snow White–”
Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot, who is playing the Evil Queen, then asserted, “She’s not gonna be saved by the prince.”
Zegler concurred, “She’s not gonna be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love.”
“She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be. The leader that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, brave, and true. And so it’s just a really incredible story for, I think, young people everywhere to see themselves in,” she concluded.
To Entertainment Weekly, Zegler stated, “The reality is that the cartoon was made 85 years ago and therefore it’s extremely dated when it comes to the ideas of women being in roles of power and what a woman is fit for in the world. And so when we came to reimagining the actual role of Snow White it became about the fairest of them all meaning who is the most just. And who can become a fantastic leader.”
“And the reality is, you know, Snow White has to learn a lot of lessons about coming into her own power before she can come into power over a kingdom,” Zegler shared.
Gadot also said, “Also the fact that she’s not going to be saved by The Prince and she’s the proactive one and she’s the one who set the terms is what makes it so relevant to where we are today.
While Zegler was at the top of the heap, the film was also originally criticized by Peter Dinklage during an appearance on WTF with Marc Maron.
He said, “Well, you know, it’s really progressive to cast a— literally no offense to anyone, but I was a little taken aback by — they’re very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White. But you’re still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs so.
“Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there. It makes no sense to me,” he said. “Because you’re progressive in one way but you’re still making that f*****g backward story of the seven dwarfs living in a cave. What the f*** are you doing, man?”
“Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox? I guess I’m not loud enough,” Dinklage stated. “I don’t know what studio that is. But they were so proud of that. And all love and respect to the actress and to the people who thought they were doing the right thing, but I’m just like, ‘What are you doing?'”
Peter Dinklage via The Graham Norton Show YouTube
In response to this criticism, A Disney spokesman told The Hollywood Reporter, “To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community. We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period.”
Alongside this statement, The Hollywood Reporter also alleged, “The film has been in development for three years; the studio has been reimagining the dwarf characters since the earliest stages.”
Rachel Zegler as Maria in 20th Century Studios’ WEST SIDE STORY. Photo by Niko Tavernise. © 2021 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
The film also drew heavy criticism when The Daily Mail published images from the Snow White set that revealed a number of actors that looked nothing like the dwarfs from the animated film. The outlet alleged the actors were indeed replacements for the original seven dwarfs from the animated film.
Is Disney planning to reshoot the film because we literally went from ambiguous magical persons back to seven dwarfs.
Did Disney come to their senses? #SnowWhite pic.twitter.com/yODtDUlL9Y
— Vince Salerno (@Thebigv75) October 27, 2023
Not only did the movie draw criticism, but Disney found themselves sending out mixed messages. A Disney spokesman told The Daily Beast, “The photos are fake and not from our production. We are currently trying to have the Daily Mail issue a correction.”
The Daily Mail would update their article with a statement, “This article has been amended since initial publication to correctly identify the actress portraying Snow White as an extra who stood in for post-production photography. Disney confirm[ed] that stand-ins were used for both Rachel Zegler and Andrew Burnap in these images. We are happy to clarify this point.”
Of note, they did not issue a correction regarding the stand-ins for the seven dwarfs.
The Independent would then publish another statement from a Disney spokesman, “The images that ran [in the Daily Mail] are not official film photos. These show stand-ins for some talent and do not feature Rachel Zegler or Andrew Burnap.”
Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird and Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Photo Credit: Murray Close
Since the release of the first look image, there are claims that the individuals in the images published from the set by The Daily Mail are part of a group of bandits led by Andrew Burnap’s character and the dwarfs were always intended to be in the film.
Grace Randolph alleges individuals who worked on the film informed her that both the individuals shown in the set photos and the CGI dwarfs are part of the film.
She explained, “They said that the dwarfs were always going to be CGI in this movie and that these are in fact the bandits which follow this version of Prince Charming.”
Grace Randolph confirms that both the bandits & the dwarfs are in the movie.
the bandits are a part of Johnathan’s group & the dwarfs are with snow white.
clip below: pic.twitter.com/ogrL1ZEAjm
— Juan (@JuanEdits) October 30, 2023
What do you make of this new report detailing the movie was pushed back a year due to fears of the movie being a financial disaster?
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