Rachel Zegler has booked her next project in Disney’s long and development live-action adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Zegler will play the titular princess.
According to Deadline, production on the film is expected to begin next year. Disney was reportedly blown away by her audition, with the studio also impressed with her work in the 20th Century Studios’ West Side Story. This made the decision easier for the studio to tap Zegler. High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star Olivia Rodrigo and Academy Award Winner H.E.R. were also in the running for the role.
The Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb is set to direct the project. The Girl on the Train screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson penned the script. Production on the project is expected to begin early next year under the working title “Merry”.
Rachel’s extraordinary vocal abilities are just the beginning of her gifts. Her strength, intelligence and optimism will become an integral part of rediscovering the joy in this classic Disney fairytale.
Marc Webb
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The film is said to be a musical with Oscar-winning songwriters Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul are set to write brand new music for the film as they did with the studio’s 2019 box office hit Aladdin, which is available on Disney+ now. Insiders say this film will expand upon the story and music from the original. A big reason the studio has taken its time on this adaptation is making sure they get the music right, and insiders add higher-ups are excited with what Pasek and Paul have come up with following early returns.
Marc Platt (Mary Poppins Returns, La La Land) is on board to produce the project.
Released in 1938, The Grimm fairy tale gets a Technicolor treatment in Disney’s first animated feature. Jealous of Snow White’s beauty, the wicked queen orders the murder of her innocent stepdaughter, but later discovers that Snow White is still alive and hiding in a cottage with seven friendly little miners. Disguising herself as a hag, the queen brings a poisoned apple to Snow White, who falls into a death-like sleep that can be broken only by a kiss from the prince.
The film which was expected to fail at the box office, surprised audiences, was a massive hit at the box office and became known as “Disney’s Folly.” The success of the film changed opened the door for animation on the big screen and helped put the Walt Disney Company on the map to become the biggest studio in animation today.