Rachel Zegler Dropped: ‘Snow White’ Sequel Moves Forward with New Lead, No Invitation for Original Disney Star

Well, it looks like there will be a few more live-action Disney princess movies coming out in the not-so-distant future, including a second Snow White film that has nothing to do with Disney’s live-action Snow White film.

The Walt Disney Company remains committed to a divisive film style that has sparked significant backlash from fans.

Last year, Disney released The Little Mermaid (2023) as a live-action film, which managed to gross a respectable $569.9 million at the box office. This marked the company’s 21st live-action adaptation and the 10th since 2018.

Disney’s track record with live-action remakes has been mixed. While some have achieved considerable box office success, like The Lion King (2019) which raked in a staggering $1.66 billion worldwide, others such as Mulan (2020) and Dumbo (2019) have underperformed. Despite these varied outcomes, Disney remains dedicated to this controversial approach, with numerous projects already announced or in production.

In a past interview with Variety, Emma Stone confirmed that Cruella 2 is “a work in progress.”

Disney has also turned to Disney princess animated films to create new live-action films, including both Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, both of which were highly successful.

It was Disney’s live-action rendition of The Little Mermaid that really started to “stir the pot” per se after the House of Mouse cast Halle Bailey, a Black actress, to play the redhead Caucasian cartoon.

Fans were also not thrilled when they found out Rachel Zegler, a Latina actress, was cast as Snow White, again, another actress of color playing a historically white role.

This live-action adaptation of the beloved animated classic has been mired in controversy from the start, with growing criticism over reported changes to the original storyline and character dynamics. Rachel Zegler’s portrayal of Snow White has been particularly contentious, with her remarks about the character’s reimagined portrayal sparking debate within both the industry and fan communities.

Zegler’s statement that Snow White would not be saved by a prince, along with claims of key elements from the animated classic being removed, has fueled significant backlash. Fans are concerned that deviating too much from the source material could dilute the original story’s magic and impact. The challenge of balancing the nostalgia of the animated film with the need to modernize its themes for today’s audiences highlights the difficult task facing Disney’s creative teams.

Adding to the controversy, the film was initially scheduled for release on September 15, 2022, with a planned debut on March 22, 2024. However, in October 2023, the release was postponed by a year to March 21, 2025, with Disney citing the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike as the reason. The timing of this delay raised eyebrows, coinciding with the peak of the film’s backlash.

While many thought that Rachel would be recast, that was not the case.

New Snow White and Sleeping Beauty Movies in Production

Now, however, there is another Snow White film being produced, and in that film Zegler will not play the lead role.

Film Updates shared, “Horror versions of ‘SNOW WHITE’ and ‘SLEEPING BEAUTY’ are in the works as part of the ‘POOHNIVERSE’ saga.”

Horror versions of ‘SNOW WHITE’ and ‘SLEEPING BEAUTY’ are in the works as part of the ‘POOHNIVERSE’ saga. pic.twitter.com/h6eUOvNPrK

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 4, 2024

The filmmakers behind Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, the micro-budget slasher that turned A. A. Milne’s jovial bear into a feral serial killer, have unveiled Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble. This new film brings together Pooh and other beloved children’s characters gone bad.

Similar to Avengers: Infinity War, Poohniverse features a team of villains, including Winnie the Pooh, Bambi, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Tigger, Piglet, the Mad Hatter, and Sleeping Beauty. The poster for the film depicts Pooh swinging a bear trap on a chain while riding a vicious, bloodthirsty Bambi.

Actor-producer Scott Chambers explained that the idea for Poohniverse came from a desire to create a villainous ensemble similar to the Avengers. Jagged Edge Productions and ITN Studios are producing the film, which is set for release in 2025.

Many of the characters in Poohniverse will first appear in standalone films, including Bambi: The Reckoning, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, and Pinocchio Unstrung. These films will also include easter eggs that link to the upcoming crossover.

Rhys Jake-Waterfield, who directed Blood and Honey and Blood and Honey 2, will also helm Poohniverse. The loose plot for Poohniverse involves the monsters teaming up to take on survivors from the previous films. However, there will be internal conflicts and clashes among the villains, leading to “carnage within the group” and “epic sequences of monster vs. monster.”

The cast for Poohniverse includes Scott Chambers as Christopher Robin, Megan Plactio as Wendy Darling, Roxanne Mckee as Xana, and Lewis Santer as Tigger.

Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble is a Jagged Edge Production with ITN Studios and Premiere Entertainment handling sales. Stuart Alson and Nicole Holland will serve as executive producers for ITN.

Now, it seems that the production company is adding to their fairy tale portfolio with these princesses, that most of us know as Disney.

The Horrifying True Story of Snow White

As some may know, while Disney’s renditions of fairytales often are joyful, they were not originally written that way.

The original fairytale of Snow White, known as Schneewittchen in German, was collected and popularized by the Brothers Grimm in their 1812 collection, Grimm’s Fairy Tales. While the version we know today has been sanitized, the original story is indeed more gruesome.

In the tale, Snow White’s stepmother, the Queen, is intensely jealous of her stepdaughter’s beauty. She frequently consults her magic mirror, asking, “Who is the fairest of them all?” When the mirror reveals that Snow White is the fairest, the Queen’s envy turns to rage. Determined to eliminate her competition, the Queen orders a huntsman to take Snow White into the forest and kill her. As proof of the deed, she demands that he return with Snow White’s heart (or, in some versions, her lungs and liver). However, the huntsman cannot bring himself to kill the innocent girl and instead tricks the Queen by bringing back the heart of a boar.

Snow White escapes into the forest, where she finds refuge with seven dwarfs who agree to let her stay in exchange for housekeeping. But the Queen eventually discovers through her magic mirror that Snow White is still alive. She then makes three attempts to kill her stepdaughter, each more sinister than the last. First, she disguises herself as an old woman and offers Snow White a bodice lace, which she ties so tightly that Snow White faints. Next, the Queen gives Snow White a poisoned comb, and finally, she offers her the infamous poisoned apple. The apple’s poison puts Snow White into a death-like sleep.

Believing Snow White to be dead, the dwarfs place her in a glass coffin. A prince, passing through the forest, becomes enchanted by Snow White’s beauty and asks to take the coffin with him. In some versions, the prince’s servants accidentally drop the coffin, dislodging the piece of apple from Snow White’s throat and reviving her. In other versions, the prince revives her with a kiss. The tale concludes with Snow White and the prince’s wedding, where the Queen meets her grisly end. As punishment for her wickedness, she is forced to wear red-hot iron shoes and dance until she drops dead.

The original Snow White story, like many Grimm tales, contains dark and violent elements that were later softened in adaptations, including the famous Disney version. The Queen’s request for Snow White’s heart (which she intended to eat), the multiple graphic murder attempts, and the Queen’s brutal punishment highlight the tale’s more gruesome origins.

It is not confirmed if this will be the plot of the horror film, but it is likely that this film will stick a little more closely to the original text than Disney.

Are you looking forward to these horror-inspired Disney princess movies?