Movies

Woke Snow White Flop Halts Tangled Live-Action Dreams

BBG News

Following the contentious retelling of Snow White, another real-life version of a fairytale princess movie has encountered difficulties.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, production on the live-action adaptation of Tangled has been temporarily paused, as confirmed by studio sources.

Back in 2010, I was utterly captivated by a movie that took a hilarious spin on a classic tale – Tangled. This magical journey was brought to life by the enchanting voices of Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi, who breathed soul into our beloved characters. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend giving this gem a watch!

The Disney live-action movie was currently being worked on extensively, with Michael Gracey appointed as the director and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson penning the script.

The news about the temporary pause was announced following the underperformance of the live-action Snow White remake at the box office, as well as its receiving backlash for being perceived as overly progressive.

Moreover, it is pointed out by THR that some key figures who have been driving Disney’s live-action remake projects have moved on from their leadership positions.

23-year-old actress Rachel Zegler, who starred in the movie, has been primarily criticized for the film’s failure to meet its substantial budget and earning only $69 million within the U.S., making it one of the least popular movies among critics on review platforms.

She has faced backlash not only for her work, but also for her expressed political views, particularly when she tweeted “Free Palestine,” a stance that drew sharp criticism from the film producer’s son.

The movie that premiered in theaters on March 21 with a budget of $270 million is expected to turn into a profitable venture at the box office, as it earned only $42.2 million during its first weekend in U.S. theaters.

In the last two weeks, Snow White, featuring Gal Gadot, has grossed $69,835.869 million in North America and a total of $145,660,560 million worldwide at the box office.

In simpler terms, the recent real-life version of the 1937 animated movie has not received positive reviews from critics, earning only a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

It’s expected that Disney could end up losing approximately $115 million on this movie once all expenses are accounted for, according to recent reports.

In the past few months, Zegler’s tweets have caused controversy, with her comments extending back to earlier remarks where she labeled the 1937 movie as “odd” and the original Prince as a “stalker.

In 1937, the initial cartoon was released, and it’s quite apparent. The main emphasis is on her romantic tale with a man who seems to be following her obsessively. It certainly feels unusual, she mentioned to Extra in 2022.

‘So we didn’t do that this time,’ she said.

In August, she shared a message on what was once called Twitter, expressing gratitude to her fans for their backing during the Snow White period.

I adore each and every one of you! A big thank you for your love, and for hitting 120 million views on our trailer in just a day! It’s been quite the adventure. I’m currently deep into rehearsals for Romeo + Juliet, so it’s time for me to wrap things up here. See you later!

However, only a moment afterwards, she expressed her backing for Palestine during the conflict in Gaza within the same conversation, stating, “Always keep in mind, liberate Palestine.

An article published by Variety outlined that, given the situation, an executive brought up the studio’s worries regarding the post to Zegler’s representatives. Additionally, Marc Platt, the movie’s producer, traveled to New York for a conversation with the actress. However, she declined to remove the post from her platform.

Additionally, he proposed that she collaborate with a social media consultant, as she had published comments such as “Fk Donald Trump” and “May Trump supporters… never experience peace,” after the 2024 presidential election.

In a recent article by The New York Times, it was mentioned that Platt needed a reminder about the significance for the film and her profession before she was asked to exercise caution in her actions.

One source shared with Variety: ‘She wasn’t aware of the consequences of her behavior in terms of the impact on the movie, on Gal, or on others involved.’

Additionally, Zegler faced criticism from Jonah Platt, Marc’s son, following a social media comment that criticized his father for correcting Zegler on her online posts. This resulted in an outburst of strong words from Jonah.

Jonah, the brother of the 31-year-old performer Ben Platt, responded with a heated outburst starting with the question: “Are you truly intending to proceed with this?

Indeed, it appears that my father, who is responsible for producing a significant Disney intellectual property worth hundreds of millions of dollars, had to depart from our family to travel across the country to address an employee who is 20 years old. This individual, in violation of their professional obligations, was intertwining personal political views with the promotion of the movie they were contractually bound to endorse for a substantial sum, and doing so publicly.

In simpler terms, during the podcast, the host implied that the individual’s actions had a noticeable negative impact on the movie’s ticket sales.

In a nutshell, the freedom of speech doesn’t grant you immunity from consequences when expressing yourself at work, especially in a professional context.

A significant number of individuals contributed to the making of that movie, yet she disproportionately dominated discussions, prioritizing her juvenile whims over the collective interests of her fellow cast members, technicians, and even support staff. Their livelihoods rely on the film’s success, and her actions potentially jeopardized it.

‘Narcissism is not something to be coddled or encouraged,’ Jonah concluded his explosive rant.

Since then, Jonah’s online response has drawn criticism from numerous users, who have voiced their opinions following the intense argument.

The movie faced additional issues beyond Zegler’s remarks, as it was criticized for allegedly modernizing or removing outdated cultural elements and stereotypes in an attempt to appear more socially aware (or ‘woke’).

Actors of short stature such as Peter Dinklage and Jason Acuna, also known as ‘Wee Man’ from MTV’s Jackass, voiced their disapproval over the casting choice that didn’t involve actors with dwarfism for the roles of Doc, Bashful, Dopey, Grumpy, Sneezy, Happy, and Sleepy.

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2025-04-04 01:35

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