Disney Bans Media Outlets From the Snow White Premiere

Movies

Traditionally, The Little Mermaid’s Ariel is the Disney Princess who loses her voice, but Disney is much more worried about what their new Snow White may say. It’s understandable, considering the damage Rachel Zegler has done to the movie she’s headlining and her own brand. She went on a tear in the lead-up to the film, a remake of Disney’s first animated feature-length movie, by denigrating the film on which hers is based (one of the most beloved movies of all time), insisting that the remake would eschew things like love and her new and improved Snow White would most certainly not be saved by some stalker of a prince, and that the movie would be about female empowerment and Snow White becoming a leader. (Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?) She also suggested that her co-star, Andrew Burnap, who plays Prince Charming, could be cut out of the movie altogether. Later, she responded to Donald Trump’s election as President by wishing that he and his supporters would “never know peace.” She also demanded residuals for Snow White on the picket line of the actors’ strike in 2023, coming off as an entitled brat. And with the movie costing a ton of money after some surely expensive reshoots that inserted CGI dwarfs to replace those ridiculous-looking stand-ins that were originally going to serve as Snow White’s wacky sidekicks, Disney can’t afford Zegler’s attitude anymore, and those less-than-sincere apologies weren’t cutting it.

So, Disney is now taking drastic action. First, they canceled the UK premiere of Snow White, which would have taken place in Leicester Square in London, replacing it with a few controlled press events with minimal questions for Zegler; the official reason given for the change was the fear of an “anti-woke backlash,” which is ridiculous because an anti-woke backlash is just people not seeing the movie (which is what’s going to happen anyway). No, it’s clear they’re afraid of Rachel Zegler turning people against her and the movie again; that’s why so much of their changed plans are designed to keep a lid on her. Now, according to Variety, the Hollywood premiere of Snow White, which will be held at the El Capitan Theatre, will not allow media outlets on the red carpet, instead only letting in photographers and “a house crew.” Is this to prevent a woke backlash? I doubt it because mainstream entertainment media loves woke movies; they’d like Snow White better if Prince Charming were renamed Prince Toxic Masculinity and Snow White kicked him in the nuts. Once again, this is obviously an attempt to stop Rachel Zegler from causing even more damage and turning off the three or four people who still want to watch this remake.

I can’t remember the last time a studio was this desperate to shut up one of its stars. It’s understandable, though; aside from the walking disaster Rachel Zegler has turned herself into, Disney’s last big release, Captain America: Brave New World, is set to bomb, and Snow White looks like it’s going to lose even more money. Add to that the recent reveal that Daredevil: Born Again is not doing the numbers Disney or Marvel need it to do, and Disney’s slate for the rest of the year: Thunderbolts*, the Lilo & Stitch remake, Elio, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Freakier Friday, Tron: Ares, Zootopia 2, and Avatar: Fire and Ash. Avatar will make a couple of billion (which is inexplicable to me, but the last one taught me that people really want to see more of these, or just anything from James Cameron), which should offset some of the year’s duds, and I think Zootopia 2 will probably do well, but Marvel and Pixar are not the moneymakers they once were, and I can’t see anyone caring about sequels to Tron and the Freaky Friday remake. Now, obviously, Disney knows Snow White is going to lose money, but I think they’re trying to mitigate the damage as much as possible so they can tread water till Avatar 3 hits in December. That Park Place has an article about how the Variety piece is even trying to shift the blame for Snow White’s failure to Gal Gadot’s support of Israel (with a quick mention of Rachel Zegler’s support for Palestine), which is not only cheap and desperate but insulting to Gadot, who kept her politics out of the Snow White promotional tour, unlike Zegler. But it won’t matter; Disney has another dud on its hands, and like a kidney stone (so I’m told, knock on wood), all they can do is grit their teeth and wait for it to pass.

Let us know what you think of Disney banning media outlets from the Snow White premiere in the comments!

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