Those who attended this week's
Licensing Expo in L.A. who don't follow film pre-production development news, might have been confused as to why they saw two different
Snow White projects being pushed, and honestly, so are we. Is the world really crying out for two Snow White re-imaginings in 2012? Of course not and I'm convinced if it wasn't for the fact Universal have the Twilight mega-star
Kristen Stewart on board for theirs, they would have already admitted defeat for
Snow White and the Huntsman's June 1st, 2012 release simply looks out of touch and an afterthought to Relativity's currently untitled
Snow White that opens in March 16th, 2012. If I was Universal I would be concerned about audiences being reluctant to put down their hard earned bucks to see the same story told twice within five months and it's clear to everyone that the winner of this rat race at the box office is whomever gets there first and not who has the best film. But as I say they do have that X-factor of Kristen Stewart who is sure to bring in a substantial audience on her own. An update on Universal's Snow White and the Huntsman comes in from
Deadline who say the studio have have hired
Hossein Amini (Drive, the currently shooting 47 Ronin) to go through a last minute re-write of Evan Spilitopoulous' script for the
Rupert Sanders directed movie that stars the aforementioned Kristen Stewart and Thor's
Chris Hemsworth in the title roles and
Charlize Theron as the evil Queen. Relativity Media's untitled Snow White film meanwhile is from the visually masterful
Tarsem (The Fall, The Cell) and is top-billed by
Julia Roberts' Evil Queen who will battle out with
Lilly Collins' Show White and
Armie Hammer's Prince. That release date is some nine months away but incredibly the film has not started shooting in Montreal yet and unlike Universal, if they have any last minute script issues they don't have the luxury to order through a re-write. Honestly, I don't expect much from either Snow White movie but I will say Tarsem's has the better talent attached but a 9 month turn-a-round means they can't afford any errors what-so-ever and I just wonder if Universal's decision to stop trying to beat Relativity with release dates and make sure their script is the best it can be, might see them win out here.