2 Snow Whites and 14 Dwarfs

As we all know, Hollywood seems to have run out of ideas.  And this become blatantly obvious every couple of years when two movies of shockingly similar theme come out very close to each other.  The popular examples are still 1997, when we got two volcano movies (Volcano and Dante's Peak) and 1998, when we got two asteroid movies (Deep Impact and Armageddon).  Well, those times have come again, because in 2012, we're getting two gritty reboots of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 

The first one to get a trailer is Snow White and the Huntsman.  I will admit, I kind of find the premise of this one intriguing.  As we all know, in the original tale, the Evil Queen orders the Royal Huntsman to take Snow White deep into the woods and kill her.  But, the Huntsman is a good guy, and cannot kill in cold blood, so he tells Snow White to just run and hide in the woods.  But, in Snow White and the Huntsman, the Huntsman takes Snow White into the woods and says, "Look, the Queen has obviously gone insane, so here's what we're going to do.  I'm going to hide you in the woods and train you to be a badass warrior woman, so one day you can take your vengeance and rightfully claim your throne."  And much fantasy film action ensues.

Kristen Stewart of Twilight fame is Snow White, Charlize Theron is Ravena the Evil Queen, Thor himself Chris Hemsworth is the Eric the Huntsman, British actor Sam Clafin is Prince William (nee Charming), and the Seven Dwarfs consist of such esteemed British character actors as Bob Hoskins, Ian McShane, Ray Winstone, and Nick Frost.  Behind the camera is rookie director Rupert Sanders. 

This definitely looks like the darker of the two...the electronic score in the trailer has people likening it to the gritty fantasy films of the 1980s.  And don't worry, it doesn't get too gritty...the filmmakers assure us that Snow White still ends up with Prince Charming, and Snow White and the Huntsman's relationship is strictly teacher/mentor.

Snow White and the Huntsman hits theatres on June 1.










The second Snow White reboot we're getting is Mirror Mirror.  This one is definitely more comical and I'm really getting a Princess Bride vibe from this trailer.

Julia Roberts plays Clementia the Evil Queen, Lily Collins, star of the new 90210, is Snow White, Armie Hammer, the Winkelvos Twins in The Social Network, is Prince Andrew Alcott (nee Charming), and Nathan Lane is Brighton, the Queen's aide.  The talent behind the camera is Tarsem, directed of Jennifer Lopez classic The Cell and the recent blockbuster Immortals.  Given that, I was expecting this to be grim and gritty, too, but this trailer is decidedly campy.





Mirror Mirror hits theatres on March 16.  

I like that the one thing these re-tellings seem to have in common is Snow White picking up a sword and claiming vengeance herself, rather than, you know, just laying comatose waiting for Prince Charming to come along and fix things. 

For historical completeness, I feel as though I need to remind you we were originally going to get a third Snow White reboot next year, and damn it, it's the one I was most looking forward to.  It was to be done in the style of a classic kung fu movie.  The action was to be moved to 19th century Hong Kong, with Snow White re-imagined as a British aristocrat and the Seven Dwarfs transformed into seven Shaolin warrior monks.  Natalie Portman was all signed on to play Snow White in that one, but she left the project and the whole shelved when she got pregnant.