In the next month, Disney will unleash upon the world the next two films in its expansive line of live-action remakes: The Jungle Book and Alice: Through the Looking Glass. Given that its previous live-action retellings of classic ‘Disney Princess’ films like Cinderella and Maleficent have been successes (commercially, I might add), the studio is now forging ahead on a project that appears to be a live-action remake of Snow White…except that it kinda isn’t.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the story today that Disney is developing Rose Red, a live-action film centered around the story of the titular character.
The project originates from a screenplay by Justin Merz, which was rejigged into a pitch from screenwriter Evan Daugherty. Tripp Vinson, who is also attached to two other live-action remakes for Disney, will produce this film under his Vinson Films banner, with Merz serving as co-producer.
Originally, Merz’s screenplay was conceived as a standalone feature until Daugherty came up with a new take on the story that tied it closer to Snow White (specifically Disney’s animated version of the tale). Thus, Rose Red will be more of a “companion piece” to Snow White than a straight-up remake.
The story of the film – set to be a revisionist take on the Snow White tale, similar to Maleficent – envisions Rose Red as Snow’s estranged sister. When Snow White bites the apple and falls into a Sleeping Death, Rose Red makes the decision to become her sister’s hero and leads the seven dwarfs on a quest to break the curse.
While she doesn’t appear in the original fairy tale that inspired the classic animated film, Rose Red is a character that does appear in a Grimms’ fairy tale story.
Outside Disney’s canon of Princess characters, the character Snow White has been portrayed numerous times on film and television. On TV, Ginnifer Goodwin currently portrays the character on ABC’s Once Upon a Time. In film, Avril Lavigne will voice the character in 3QU Media’s animated musical Charming.
This also won’t be the first time that Evan Daugherty will provide his own take on the Snow White story. In 2012, he co-wrote the screenplay for Universal Pictures’ Snow White and the Huntsman, a film that starred Kristen Stewart in the role of the character. The spinoff of that film, The Huntsman: Winter’s War, will release in theaters on April 22.
What do you think? Are you interested in Rose Red as a different take on Snow White?
Edited by: Hannah Wilkes
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