'Snow White And The Huntsman' Character Images And Panel: 'On The Scale Of Lord Of The Rings'
Even though the film has yet to go into production, Universal decided it would be vital to present Snow White and the Huntsman, their movie competing with Tarsem's The Brothers Grimm: Snow White, to the fans at San Diego Comic-Con. They flew in the four main stars (Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron and Sam Claflin), had director Rupert Sanders shoot a concept reel to give everyone an idea of the scope and look of the film and even made the actors poses for press shots as their characters. After the jump, check out those images and read our impressions of what's in store for the Snow White film that's described as being "on the scale of Lord of the Rings."
You saw the one image at the top, but here are the rest. The four characters are official images and the dwarfs was taken in Hall H, so the quality isn't as good.
UPDATE 8/1/11: Universal has asked us to remove the photo of the dwarfs.
First, to talk about the dwarfs, they're being played by amazing actors like Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Nick Frost and Toby Jones so they're obviously very important. As to why there are eight, and not seven, it was slipped that [SPOILER ALERT] one of them will perish in a major moment in the film. [END SPOILER]
Back to the panel. Producer Joe Roth stated that they wanted to make a definitive version of the story, something that the Brothers Grimm would be proud of. He said the film would be the same "size, scope and appetite" of Lord of the Rings, which is totally different from Tarsem's film, which is more family oriented and comes out 10 weeks earlier.
Sanders, best known for commercials like the Rolling Stones one for Call of Duty Black Ops, said he wanted to make a war movie. Something on a massive scale, and the ability to do that with an iconography we all know and love was very unique. To show what he meant, they ran a reel of footage, shot on a shoestring budget specifically for this event.
The footage looked very much like Lord of the Rings, just a little glossier. Think brown, grey and green hues in the woods and bright, bright whites in the snow with muted silver castles. There were images of a young girl walking through the forest, being chased by a wolf, trees having creatures grow out of them, a queen who shatters into a million pieces in slow motions and knights riding horses. Watching it you could tell this wasn't Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But you also couldn't tell how Sanders will be able to handle a plot driven story. This played like a commercial for the movie, but without the real actors.
Snow White and the Huntsman is scheduled for a June 1 2012 release and has the rare potential to have all the action and violence that men clamor, coupled with a romance and strong female character women adore, not to mention a classic story that the whole family can embrace. If Rupert Sanders is the real deal, this movie could be a monster.
Here's the official plot description:
In the epic action-adventure Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart (Twilight) plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen (Oscar® winner Charlize Theron) who is out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth, Thor) who was dispatched to kill her. Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) joins the cast as the prince long enchanted by Snow White's beauty and power.
The breathtaking new vision of the legendary tale is from Joe Roth, the producer of Alice in Wonderland, producer Sam Mercer (The Sixth Sense) and acclaimed commercial director and state-of-the-art visualist Rupert Sanders.