Snow White (2025 film)

Snow White is an upcoming American musical fantasy film directed by Marc Webb, from a screenplay by Greta Gerwig and Erin Cressida Wilson. Co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Marc Platt Productions, it is a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1937 animated film, which itself is loosely based on the 1812 fairy tale of the same title by the Brothers Grimm. The film stars Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen.
Plans for a remake of 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs were confirmed in October 2016, with Wilson announced as a screenwriter. Webb entered talks to direct the film in May 2019 and joined the film as director in September 2019. Filming took place primarily at Pinewood Studios in England from March to July 2022, with additional filming and pick-ups taking place in June 2024. The film elicited pre-release controversies, with criticism levied against Zegler's outspokenness during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes, story changes, and color-blind casting, as well as actors without dwarfism playing originally dwarf characters.
Snow White is scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States on March 21, 2025, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
== Cast ==
* Rachel Zegler as Snow White
* Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen
* Andrew Burnap as Jonathan
* Ansu Kabia as the Huntsman
* Dujonna Gift as Maple
* Martin Klebba as Grumpy
* Colin Michael Carmichael
== Production ==
=== Development ===
On October 31, 2016, Variety reported that Walt Disney Pictures was developing a live-action remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), with Erin Cressida Wilson being in talks to write the screenplay. On May 30, 2019, it was reported that Marc Webb was in talks to direct the film. In November 2021, Greta Gerwig was reported to be co-writing the screenplay alongside Wilson.
=== Casting ===
In June 2021, Rachel Zegler was cast in the titular role, and in November, Gal Gadot was cast as the Evil Queen. On December 7, 2021, during an interview with ExtraTV, Zegler revealed that Snow White would be a lot stronger than the original. A new casting search was announced for a young actress to star as a younger version of Snow White in the live-action remake. On January 12, 2022, it was announced that Andrew Burnap was cast in the lead male role as a new character. At the 2022 Denver Fan Expo, Martin Klebba revealed that he would be portraying Grumpy in the film; Klebba previously played similar dwarf roles in prior productions based on the "Snow White" fairy tale: in the made-for-television film Snow White: The Fairest of Them All (2001) as Friday, and in the fantasy comedy film Mirror Mirror (2012) as Butcher.
=== Filming ===
Filming for Snow White was originally set to begin in March 2020 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, but the start date was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2021, it was announced that filming would take place in the United Kingdom from March to July 2022. Principal photography began on March 7, 2022. A fire damaged the production set on March 15 at Pinewood Studios; the stage was under construction when a tree reportedly caught alight, leading to a huge blaze. A source from Disney confirmed that "no filming was underway". The shooting schedule was also reconfigured in order for Zegler to travel to Los Angeles to present at the 94th Academy Awards ceremony on March 27, in support of her West Side Story (2021) colleagues. While Zegler was attending the ceremony, Gadot began filming her scenes. During a podcast interview with Forbes, Gadot revealed that she sings and dances in the film.On April 22, Gadot confirmed that she had completed filming her scenes. On July 13, Zegler revealed that filming had wrapped. Additional filming and pick-ups later took place in June 2024.
=== Visual effects ===
Moving Picture Company provided the visual effects for the film.
== Marketing ==
On September 9, 2022, during Disney's 2022 D23 Expo presentation, a 30-second first-look teaser of the film as well as first-look images were previewed. There were quick flashes of several major settings, including Snow White's cottage in the woods, the intricately designed interior of the Queen's castle and the moss-covered forest. There were also short glimpses of Gadot as the Evil Queen questioning her magic mirror, Zegler as Snow White, and Snow White's hand falling with the poisoned apple toppling along with her. Gadot said about her role that playing the Evil Queen was "very different than what [she] had done before. [She is] used to playing the other end of where the heart should be", but she found it very "delightful" to "get under her skin". The title logo of the film was also revealed. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Zegler criticized the "jokes" that were being made about the film's modern updates, including her casting in the role of Snow White as a Latina, and addressed the film's "politically correct" approach, saying: "People are making these jokes about ours being the PC Snow White, where it’s like, yeah, it is —because it needed that. It's an 85-year-old cartoon, and our version is a refreshing story about a young woman who has a function beyond "Someday My Prince Will Come."
Zegler later said of the changes from the original film: "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. We didn't do that this time... We have a different approach to what I'm sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because we cast a guy in the movie, Andrew Burnap, great dude. It's one of those things that I think everyone's going to have their assumptions about what it's going to be, but it's really not about the love story at all, which is really, really wonderful."
On October 27, 2023, Disney released the official first image of the film with Zegler as Snow White as well as Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Sneezy. Zegler confirmed that there is a lot of CGI in the film, which made her feel "nervous". Footage of Gadot as the Evil Queen was shown at the 2024 CinemaCon. Disney presented new footage and a behind-the-scenes look at the film during the 2024 CineEurope. The first official teaser and poster were released during a presentation at the 2024 D23 event.
== Release ==
During the 2022 D23 Expo Presentation, it was announced that Snow White would be released in 2024. On September 15, 2022, the film was announced to have a release date of March 22, 2024. However, in October 2023, the film was delayed to a year for March 21, 2025, with Disney claiming it was due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Insiders said that Disney was worried about the film's performance at the box office, having spent upwards of $330 million; becoming a box office bomb would harm the potential of future live-action adaptations and remakes of their animated films. They are planning to do reshoots since the SAG-AFTRA strike ended.
== Controversies==
=== Snow White casting ===
While appearing on Variety's Actors on Actors series with Andrew Garfield, Zegler opened up on the Snow White casting backlash. The young star recalled the casting announcement trending on Twitter for days due to the heated response to her landing the role, and how she is looking to use this role and response for more positive means rather than let it get to her. She said: "Never in a million years did I imagine that this would be a possibility for me. You don't normally see Snow Whites that are of Latin descent. Even though Snow White is really a big deal in Spanish-speaking countries. Blanca Nieves is a huge icon whether you're talking about the Disney cartoon or just different iterations and the Grimm fairy tale and all the stories that come with it. But you don't particularly see people who look like me or are me playing roles like that. When it was announced, it was a huge thing that was trending on Twitter for days, because all of the people were angry. We need to love them in the right direction. At the end of the day, I have a job to do that I'm really excited to do. I get to be a Latina princess."
=== Seven Dwarfs reimagining===
In January 2022, during an interview on Marc Maron's WTF podcast, actor Peter Dinklage, who has a form of dwarfism and has played dwarfish characters in his career, commented on the upcoming live-action Snow White remake, dismissing it as a "backward story". He said: "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. Take a step back and look at what you're doing there. It makes no sense to me... You're progressive in one way, but then you're still making that fucking backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the fuck are you doing, man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soap box? I guess I'm not loud enough. I don't know which studio that is, but they were so proud of it. All love and respect to the actress and all the people who thought they were doing the right thing. But I'm just like, what are you doing?"
In response to Dinklage's comments, Disney clarified that "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." The film was also retitled to simply Snow White, due to the absence of the titular Seven Dwarfs from the original film. Numerous other actors with dwarfism responded negatively to Dinklage's comments, feeling he was unduly speaking on their behalf and costing them roles.
In July 2023, footage of the production from Berkshire revealed that the depiction of the Seven Dwarfs had been reimagined for the film, consisting of only one actor with dwarfism along with six other non-dwarf actors of varying ethnicity, 6 males and 1 female portraying the associated set of seven individuals, who were originally all portrayed as supernatural beings from German folklore, not actual human beings. After initially denying reports that these images depicted the actual film production, Disney later confirmed that they did indeed depict the production, with stand-in actors substituting for the leads (the already confirmed actor Martin Klebba not appearing in said footage). The decision to reimagine the characters as such was criticised by mainstream and social media sources as being overly politically correct, as well as potentially taking away acting opportunities from the dwarfism community. Jackass actor Jason "Wee Man" Acuña criticised Disney for not casting dwarf actors and expressed disappointment about the changes. Acuña said, "You're replacing jobs that people could have as little people. It's for dwarfs. Why are you hiring 'Snow White and the seven average people'?" Wrestler and actor Dylan Postl also disagreed with Dinklage's view and in an interview with Piers Morgan, he echoed Acuña's sentiments and defended the portrayal of the dwarf characters in the animated film.
In October 2023, coinciding with an announcement of the film's delay, Disney unveiled a first-look image for the movie; which included Zegler portraying Snow White, alongside the Seven Dwarfs, all of which are CGI characters made to look similar to their appearances in the 1937 film. This announcement which was initially met with mixed reception which criticized the studio's decision to include the characters through special effects instead of actors on film; the details of which also confirmed the studio had determined to reintegrate the classic characters back into the film.
== Videos ==
Disney’s Snow White - Teaser Trailer - In Theaters March 21
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