Disney recently announced that it was delaying the debut of its “Snow White” remake until March 2025, and an insider reportedly says it is out of fear that the film will be a “financial disaster” and hurt plans for future spinoffs.
A source told the Daily Mail that when Disney cited the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike as the reason behind delaying the film’s release one full year, that wasn’t the whole story. Disney has reportedly spent $330 million on the upcoming remake.
“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,” an insider told the outlet.
“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 insider added, noting the backlash against the lead actress Rachel Zegler who slammed the original story with a “stalker” prince.
EXCLUSIVE: Disney delayed Snow White over fears it will be a ‘financial DISASTER’ and flop like Cats – as controversy continues after Rachel Zegler’s woke tirade at ‘weird’ original plot with ‘stalker’ Prince https://t.co/oC615zrvbk
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) November 2, 2023
“They realize that they were overthinking things and are now reigning it all in a little bit more,” the source 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.”
The film faced backlash from those upset about Disney casting Latin actress Zegler as the maiden with “skin as white as snow,” and then from actor Peter Dinklage, who slammed Disney for attempting to remake the “f***ing backward” story about seven cave-dwelling dwarfs.
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“Literally no offense to anyone, but I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White — but you’re still telling the story of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,'” Dinklage said on a podcast.
“Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there,” he added. “It makes no sense to me. You’re progressive in one way and you’re still making that f***ing backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f*** are you doing man?”
In response, Disney announced first that in order to “avoid reinforcing stereotypes,” “magical creatures” would replace the seven dwarves. Images surfaced of women and men of different ethnicities as the dwarfs, which the outlet noted now appear to be replaced by CGI-created characters.
Zegler then slammed the original story, describing the prince as a “stalker” and made it clear the live-action story she was part of would have nothing in common with the “weird” original 1937 love story.
Following Zegler’s remarks bashing the original film, The Daily Wire’s kids entertainment company Bentkey announced it would make a live-action film titled “Snow White and the Evil Queen,” starring YouTube sensation Brett Cooper.