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Credit: Inside the MagicRachel Zegler is no longer set to star in an upcoming film.
Starting several years ago, The Walt Disney Company embarked on a mission to remake all of its classic animated films, giving them a live-action spin. We’ve seen countless classic Disney films get remade, some with stunning visual effects and upgrades, like The Lion King (2019), The Jungle Book (2016), and Cinderella (2015), to name a few. Peter Pan & Wendy, the most recent “live-action” adaptation, was released earlier this year on Disney+. Disney also attempted to capitalize on its classic Haunted Mansion attraction for the second time with 2023’s Haunted Mansion.
This new attempt to create a film based on one of Disney’s most popular theme park attractions turned out to be a dud, bombing at the box office. The film itself did make a decent amount of money, but with an estimated budget of at least $150 million, it was an uphill battle from the start. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) also turned out to be a flop at the box office, but this fifth and final installment in the Indiana Jones franchise boasted a whopping $250 million budget.
Many fans are looking ahead to Disney’s upcoming live-action Snow White film with the assumption it will also fail to perform at the box office, though for very different reasons than the previous films. The quality and popularity of each of these films vary significantly, but none have been as controversial as Disney’s upcoming remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).
Disney’s reimagining of the classic animated fairytale will feature big Hollywood names like Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot.
Rachel Zegler has been very outspoken regarding the upcoming film, criticizing the original at almost every chance she could get. Rachel Zegler, who portrays Snow White in the upcoming film, made a name for herself with films like West Side Story (2021) Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) and will star in this year’s expansion of the Hunger Games franchise with The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Zegler has been on record saying that the love story is not important to the new Snow White film and that the prince’s scenes, portrayed by Andrew Burnap, may be cut entirely.
Related: Disney Goes All in on Physical Media After Streaming Service Chaos
Zegler has made it clear that she thinks the original character of Snow White was a helpless damsel in distress who was only able to be rescued by a prince. While this trope is true for certain Disney films, for many, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was all about Snow White’s journey herself. Zegler has joked about removing the Prince character from the film, citing that the film shouldn’t really be about a character like that. Zegler also stated that Snow White does not need to fall in love and can instead be powerful on her own.
These comments, among others, have soured a lot of fans on this new movie, leaving many wondering how it will turn out when it is finally released. Zegler even joked that the film might not come out due to what she has said about it.
Now, ahead of the release of Disney’s Snow White, Rachel Zegler has been dropped from another project.
As reported by The Hollywood Handle, Zegler is no longer set to star in Paddington 3. This series of films starring the loveable bear has grown into one of the most successful family-friendly franchises. The second film has maintained one of the highest critic scores of all time on Rotten Tomatoes, with the third film also expected to be a big hit. Zegler was revealed to be attached to the upcoming film a few months ago but has since been removed from the project.
Zegler has reportedly been cut from the film and will be recast as a result of the ongoing Hollywood strikes. These strikes started months ago and have affected countless projects, both in the television world as well as film production. Streaming services like Disney+, Netflix and Max have all been affected by these strikes as well.
Paddington in Peru, the third film in the Paddington franchise, is expected to be released in the summer of 2024. The original Paddington film was first released all the way back in 2014 and is still just as relevant today, nearly a decade later.
Disney’s upcoming Snow White film has also been heavily criticized over the decision to not include dwarfs in the film. The Walt Disney Company has been labeled as “woke” for a lot of its recent decisions, but this was by far the most shocking.
Disney’s live-action Snow White will be released on March 22, 2024.
Are you excited about the upcoming Snow White film? What’s your favorite Disney film?