Branding experts warn that Disney’s live-action “Snow White” remake could become a colossal failure based on comments made by the lead actress, Rachel Zegler.
The 22-year-old star has been making headlines recently for her comments regarding the original 1937 film’s storyline, which is based on a German fairy tale. Zegler said she “hated” the classic love story and thought it was “weird,” plus labeled the prince as a “stalker.”
As for the new live-action version, the “Snow White” star alluded to some major updates.
“She’s not going to be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love,” the actress promised.
Branding expert Carla Speight predicted Zegler’s highly publicized comments could hurt ticket sales. She told the Daily Mail that even though old Disney movies “hold old values,” taking revisions “to the opposite extreme” in an effort “to inflict strong and loaded messaging on the viewers” is a mistake.
Speight said, “Disney will need to be careful with how they have portrayed Snow White and what they do and don’t allow their actors to say about it going forwards. They simply cannot repeat the same mistakes and allow their actors to be so vocal in their own personal opinions during promotions.”
“It can have a huge impact on ticket sales, especially with the amount of negative backlash so early in the promo trail,” she continued. “They need to get the key messaging and strong selling point into a brief for the cast of the film and ensure they stick to it. If they don’t, it’s a disaster waiting to happen and the backlash will keep growing.”
She recommended Zegler “clarify” her comments.
PR expert Nick Ede has similar thoughts. He told Daily Mail that the film’s star has proven she “isn’t the best person to promote the film.”
“Rachel is a big-named star playing one of the world’s most famous fairytale characters immortalized by Disney, but instead of taking the lead of ‘The Little Mermaid’s’ Halle Bailey and embracing her role, Rachel has actively chosen to spoil the narrative and express the new direction she has taken Snow White in,” Ede said.
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“This is by no means a wrong move and Snow White, and other stories, if they were written today would have very different nuances and narratives but the fact that she’s actively being negative about the source material and laughing off the old Disney film and the fairytale makes her look too eager to show off the new version and shows little or no respect for the previous version and other iterations,” he added.
“I am sure Disney executives must be having crisis talks and thinking perhaps their new Snow White isn’t the best person to promote the film and ensure it is a box office success.”
He mentioned that “Snow White” has a “negative narrative” surrounding it, meaning Disney will have to work overtime to create “magical and positive hype” ahead of the film’s 2024 release date.
(Disclosure: The Daily Wire has announced plans for kids entertainment content.)