Disney is currently filming its next big live-action remake in The Little Mermaid, but the house of mouse is wasting zero time in moving forward with another big live-action adaptation for a major Disney Princess. The one that started it all, Snow White, has been cast, and the role will be played by Rachel Zegler, who is on the verge of making her big-screen debut as Maria in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story.
Most of the world hasn't even met Rachel Zegler, but clearly the young actress has made a lot of fans in Hollywood already. After landing the coveted role of Maria in West Side Story, she'll now be playing a Disney Princess on the big screen, which is something that Zegler herself has apparently always dreamed of doing, and now even she can't believe this has happened.
Snow White has been one of those "in-development" films for quite some time. It's been on Disney's radar for the remake treatment for at least five years. A few years ago there were reports that Brie Larson was in talks to play the title role, but nothing ever came of it. Some reports indicated that plans were actually to make a movie that focused on Rose Red, Snow White's sister, who does not appear in the original animated feature, but it appears from the Deadline report that the plan now is for a more straightforward remake.
Marc Platt, who produced Mary Poppins Returns and the Aladdin remake for Disney will produce the new Snow White. Marc Webb is set to direct the film. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the duo who wrote the music for La La Land and The Greatest Showman will write new songs for the movie and, one assumes, adapt the existing classics like "Heigh-Ho" and "Someday My Prince Will Come."
It seems that the casting for Snow White has been going on for the last several months, and Rachel Zegler had been a front runner following a strong audition, but when the producers saw early footage of West Side Story, which is a 20th Century Studios release, and thus technically a Disney movie, it blew them away and gave Zegler the role.
The fact that Rachel Zegler herself clearly has a love for Disney Princesses, and has a beautiful voice, makes her just about as near perfect a casting decision as one could make. She even apparently did her own Snow White Disneybounding and then went and visited the princess at a Disney Park. Certainly, this Disney Parks nerd is loving every vibe coming off of this clip.
At this point it's far too early to tell when the live-action Snow White will be going in front of camera, nevermind getting on screens. But this one has a lot of potential. If you're a fan of Disney's remakes, then seeing Disney's original princess get her time in the sun is exciting.
