The highly-anticipated full-length trailer for Snow White is finally here.
Disney declared in 2022 that they would be venturing into a live-action remake of the classic 1937 animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, following the success of live-action adaptations such as The Little Mermaid and The Lion King.
The cast includes Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, a character known as the original villain in movie history. While specific details about the film have been kept secret, reports suggest that it will stick to the original storyline but with a modern feminist perspective. Other actors featured in the film are Andrew Burnap, Ansu Kabia, Martin Kelbba, and Dujonna Gift.
The trailer teases a different angle, with Snow White urging the Evil Queen to display “kindness” to her subjects, while the Evil Queen declares her ambition to be “the fairest of them all.” This new interpretation seems to imply that “fairest” does not refer to physical beauty but rather fairness. Viewers catch glimpses of beloved iconic elements, including Snow White’s yellow and blue dress, the enchanting forest, and the seven dwarves.
When the film was first announced at Disney’s 2022 D23 Expo, it had a scheduled premiere date of March 2024. Disney later announced the release date would be pushed back to March 21, 2025. According to Deadline, the SAG-AFTRA strike was the reason behind the delay.
Directed by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) and written by Barbie’s Greta Gerwig and Erin Cressida Wilson, the adaptation has reportedly been in the works since 2016. Along with the geniuses behind-the-scenes, the released cast list — led by Zegler and Gadot — has only added to the buzz surrounding the film.
According to Zegler, the live-action adaptation will stay true to the original — with just a few, slight twists.
“We did a really deep dive into fixing and making a modern woman out of Snow White,” Zelger told Variety on the D23 red carpet in 2022. “I think she’s 13 in the original cartoon, so we started there and said, ‘No, she’s 18 in this one.’ She’s a bit more independent. She’s also living in grief. I mean, there was a lot of complex emotion that we decided to deep-dive into. And understanding what it’s like to be a teenager on top of all that.”
The origins of Snow White’s name have also been altered for the live-action film, according to Zelger. Instead of her name paying homage to her skin being “white as snow,” the moniker is inspired by her story of survival.
“It fell back to another version of Snow White that was told in history, where she survived a snowstorm that occurred when she was a baby,” Zelger explained. “And so the king and queen decided to name her Snow White to remind her of her resilience. One of the core points in our film for any young woman or young person is remembering how strong you actually are.”
Snow White hits theaters on March 21, 2025.
