Tarsem Singh's SNOW WHITE - The Story Behind the Rushed Development of this... Comedic Adventure?
Thanks to screenwriter Jason Keller we have some more new details on Tarsem Singh's upcoming Snow White film, which stars Lily Collins, Armie Hammer and Julia Roberts. This is one of two Snow White projects that will be released next year, and there was a battle to see who could get there project to the theaters first. Keller discusses the speed in which this project was put together so that it could be the first in production and also talks about the tone, surprisingly describing it as a comedic adventure.
On writing the script:
Snow White I wrote in December 2010, and that is unheard of, in terms of writing a script and going into production when it did. I'm just being very frank about it ... at the end of last year, [Relativity] looked around, and they saw Universal was coming out with a Snow White. But they had a script that wasn't really working, but they knew they wanted to try to keep that, so when they hired me, the first conversation we all had about that was, 'How do we beat that other project?' So it was literally something like, 'We want to beat that other project. We are very, very motivated to do a Snow Whiteproject.'
A rushed script eh? That's a shame, because when scripts are rushed they usually end up being bad movies. He goes on to talk about how fast the studio and director approved his pitch and thrust the film into production.
I pitched them a take on it, and in the same meeting I pitched them a take on it, Tarsem was in the room, he said, 'I like that take,' the studio was in the room, they said, 'We like that take,' and that minute, they commenced me writing — this is December — and they opened the art department, they opened the costume department, and they started scouting locations. All in the same minute! It hadn't even been written yet! It was all because there was a derby race. And it all happened to work. I happened to write a script that was good enough in a very short enough period of time to get Julia Roberts, and we didn't then have to wait for art and costumes because they were already going. So it was a super-cool way to write a movie.
That just seems crazy! These people were just hell bent on getting this movie into production. Chances are they would have approved any pitch on the film that came to them that day. Keller then goes on to talk about how their Snow White film is different form Universals Snow White and the Huntsman saying,
Ours is not dark. I mean, I know Snow White and the Huntsman is very intense, and lots of chain mail, and armor, and Kristen Stewart has a sword. Ours is an adventure, ours is funny — it's a comedic adventure! And there's some great action in it. It's stunningly gorgeous, and it's fun ... Ours will be PG or PG-13, and the other one will probably be a R. We don't know yet. But ours is nothing like theirs.
That's pretty interesting, an 'R' rated Snow White film? I don't think that will happen, and I don't think that's Universals plan. But whatever, Snow White as a comedic adventure could easily work for this story. I like the art that I've seen from the film, I like the style that was shown off of Lilly Collins in the image above, and I really enjoy Singh's style and imagination. Regardless of how rushed this movie was, it still could end up being entertaining. We know it will look good but will the rushed script be solid?
The film also stars Nathan Lane, Robert Emms, Mare Winningham, Michael Lerner, Mark Povinelli, Jordan Prentice, Danny Woodburn, Sebastian Saraceno, Ronald Lee Clark, Martin Klebba and Joey Gnoffo. Snow White is set for release on March 16, 2012.
What are your thought's on what Keller had to say about how this movie project came together so fast?
Here's the previously released description:
While many of the classic Snow White elements show through in the film's design -- particularly in the look of the forest -- the artwork seems to draw from a wide range of inspiration, including a very Indian-looking palace and several masquerade designs reminiscent of Mardi Gras and old storybook illustrations.
Multiple costume parties are said to play a role in the film and promise to be extremely bright and colorful. Against them, the Prince (Armie Hammer) is seen in a coat and tales costume with (for the party) rabbit ears emerging from his top hat.
Snow White herself (Lilly Collins) is the biggest departure from the original story and will be portrayed as a bit of a fighter, allowing for multiple action sequences. Exiled from her kingdom, she's actively trying to win back her rightful throne and combines a blue dress with black, leather armor.
Each of the film's seven dwarfs features a distinctive look and seems to be nicknamed by their costume. "Cowboy" wears a cowboy hat, "Wolf" is draped in animal skin and another wears a crooked top hat.
The Evil Queen (Julia Roberts) takes the cake for costume changes. Her character had pages and pages of different elaborate dresses in various colors and shapes, including an impressive ice-inspired design.