Julia Roberts becomes ‘Evil Queen’
This spring will see the start of shooting the latest film in a string of ‘Snow White’ remakes. Relativity Media announced yesterday (09/02/2011) that their long negotiations with Hollywood leading lady Julie Roberts had paid off and she would become the Evil Queen in the remake of the Brothers Grimm classic. Surprising to say the least that Roberts would agree to the film considering it’s the third to be announced due out in 2012, making it a fairly risky project to become involved in. Not least because of the constant comparisons that are sure to be made between all 3 adaptations. However, not all shall be telling the same version of the story.
Roberts shall be starring in ‘The Brothers Grimm: Snow White’ which will be following the original story from the 1800s, which see’s Snow White and the seven dwarves trying to protect the Kingdom her Evil Stepmother is now destroying, whilst it’s main rival for the box-office will be in the form of ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’. This version is set to star Hollywood’s most-glum star, Kristen Stewart as Snow White, an interesting casting choice considering the lack of facial movement she seems to possess, but a smart move nonetheless by Universal considering the current ‘Twilight’ frenzy surrounding her. The third ‘Snow White’ film due to be released in 2012, (most probably not released on as big of a scale as the others), is a little different to what may be expected. Rather than being ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’ it shall be renamed ‘Snow White and the Seven’. This is due to the dwarves being replaced by monks; the backdrop for the film will be 19th Century Hong Kong and is sure to feature a more courageous and heroic version of Snow White considering top martial art’s choreographer Yuen Woon-ping has been hired. Whilst it may not be as big of a contender at the box-office due to it’s twist on the classic tale, it is being directed by Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) and will still follow pretty much the same story as the original, so I’m sure it’ll turn out to be a pretty entertaining film.
There isn’t a lot of info out about any of the films at the moment but all I can say is I hope they won’t be trying to re-hash the same oddities Tim Burton already mastered with ‘Alice in Wonderland’ last year, which I fear they could easily do. If they try to make the films appear in an ‘odd’ or ‘quirky’ land to make it seem more grown up, it’ll come-off as a cheap version of Burton’s ideas and won’t work well with audiences. Furthermore, the fact that three films are due to be released around the same time about the same story, will only put pressure on all studios involved, and whilst the box-office winner could easily be whomever starts shooting and getting promos done the soonest, it could cause the productions becoming rushed and sloppy. These are the latest in a string of Hollywood’s fairytale remakes and will face competition from other adaptations such as ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and ‘Jack and the Bean Stalk’. Prepare yourself for a lot of nostalgia in the coming year at the cinema!