Universal Pictures released a new trailer and extended preview for their upcoming, dark retelling of the classic Grimm fairytale Snow White earlier this week. Sprung from the mind of innovative commercial director Rupert Sanders, Snow White and the Huntsman has faced comparisons to Tarsem Singh’s Mirror Mirror for the past several months. The release of the Disney film along with the footage from Sanders’ offering has made it clear that these are two very different films.
The trailer and preview answered many concerns that fans had about both the casting and tone of Snow White and the Huntsman. We had the opportunity to sit down with Sanders in a small roundtable discussion at WonderCon this weekend to discuss his aesthetic approach to the story as well as the backstory for the characters in the film. Outside of the magic mirror, how much do you play with the magical elements of the tale? RS: "There’s quite a lot. There’s a great sequence in the dark forest, which is really a forest that plays on the mind. Snow White runs in and she falls into a patch of spore-like puffball mushrooms that are hallucinogenic. She falls into that and instantly the trip starts to take her and she’s like trying to run away but then the whole forest starts to turn in on her. To me, as a hallucinator, when you do watch Snow White and that forest scene, they’re very hallucinogenic and I think we really tried to actually say that the forest is dangerous because it’ll play with your mind. The first five minutes in the forest is quite a mental acid trip but designed to kind of protect itself. The forest protects itself. There’s a lot of magical realism in there, there’s a lot of great symbolism in the enchanted forest. We created a world that was protected by the dark forest where the Evil Queen’s poison hasn’t reached and that’s where the magical fairy tale exists, where there’s still fairies and strange creatures. So it’s a very rich journey, you go into so many different worlds and see so many different things and hopefully every scene you go to there’s a new discovery of something else that is happening.” Can you talk a bit about casting Charlize Theron as the Queen and also just exactly how evil is she? RS: “When you’re playing an Evil Queen you can go into pantomime very quickly. I think what she did so well and what really we all felt was the best kind of root for the character was that she wasn’t playing pure evil. I don’t think anyone’s born pure evil. Things happen to them growing up that make them who they are and I think that’s very true with her backstory that you see later in the film. She’s a very disturbed character who’s desperately got to find this heart because she needs to live forever. It’s as simple as that. She’s dead on the inside but she’s determined that she will avenge her family and the tribe that she was with that was constantly brutalized by kings and other kingdoms. She’s determined that the world will feel the suffering that she felt and she will stop at nothing to do that. She’s driven by some dark machinations but she’s also incredibly wounded and fragile underneath that. You can relate to her, because we understand the things she’s gone through and why she’s become evil. She’s not just sitting around with a white cat on her lap and hacking people’s heads off. Her evil comes because of how distorted the character has become. So she plays it very real and I think that’s really the success of the character. She’s incredible to watch.” People were very skeptical when Kristen Stewart was initially cast in this film. But now seeing the trailer and all the footage, you really get why she’s perfect casting. RS: “Yeah, I think we were looking for someone who was obviously a great actor first and foremost but also someone who’s incredibly physical. Everyone thinks she is Bella from Twilight. I think she’s such a good actor that she encompassed that role so well that people think that’s how she is. When you meet Kristen, she’s so far away from that character. I’d first seen her in ‘Into the Wild’ and I was really blown away. I remembered that she was the girl from ‘Panic Room,’ ‘Welcome to the Rileys,’ ‘The Runaways,’ and now ‘On the Road.’ She’s one those actors who does these smaller films and then she does these big movies and she’s really managed her career so well in that way. She’s incredibly spirited and very kind of wild and also she’s got this kind of this alchemy to her. You’re not quite sure what it is about her but on screen she’s just incredible. And when you see her act you realize why she is such a huge movie star and why she’s going to continue to get bigger.” Read More: Screen Rant Thanks @FierceBitchStew for the heads up! NEW #SWATH PHOTO: Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman - His Mission will take him to The Dark Forest2/10/2012 "His mission will take him to The Dark Forest." SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN - In Theaters June 1, 2012
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN Synopsis: 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) 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) 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. Release date: June 1, 2012 Genre: Epic action-adventure Cast: Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin Directed by: Rupert Sanders Writers: Evan Daugherty, Evan Spiliotopoulos, Hossein Amini, John Lee Hancock, Jez Butterworth Produced by: Joe Roth, Sam Mercer Executive Producers: Gloria Borders, Palak Patel SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN: Official Site: www.snowwhiteandthehuntsman.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/snowwhiteandthehuntsman Twitter: http://twitter.com/snowwhite - Hashtag: #SWATH Chime.In: http://chime.in/community/SnowWhiteandtheHuntsman Google+: https://plus.google.com/100155515872252060462 SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN - In Theaters June 1, 2012
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN Synopsis: 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) 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) 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. Release date: June 1, 2012 Genre: Epic action-adventure Cast: Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin Directed by: Rupert Sanders Writers: Evan Daugherty, Evan Spiliotopoulos, Hossein Amini, John Lee Hancock, Jez Butterworth Produced by: Joe Roth, Sam Mercer Executive Producers: Gloria Borders, Palak Patel SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN: Official Site: www.snowwhiteandthehuntsman.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/snowwhiteandthehuntsman Twitter: http://twitter.com/snowwhite - Hashtag: #SWATH Chime.In: http://chime.in/community/SnowWhiteandtheHuntsman Google+: https://plus.google.com/100155515872252060462 Kristen Stewart teamed up with her Snow White and the Huntsman costars Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron for a photo shoot in LA today. Kristen arrived in a casual hoodie and later changed into a plaid shirt to pose with her leading man, Chris. The trio wrapped the film just before the holidays and since then they've all kept busy with new projects and well-deserved vacations.
Earlier this month it was announced that Kristen will be the new face of Balenciaga perfumewhile Charlize scored the February cover of W magazine. Meanwhile, Chris and his wife Elsa Patakay announced they're expecting their first child later this year and also vacationed off the coast of St. Barts with Matt Damon. Chris and Matt let loose during their stay in the Caribbean, and even partied with George Clooney's ex Lisa Snowdon. Snow White and the Huntsman hits theaters June 1 and we can look forward to seeing a lot more of Chris, Kristen, and Charlize in the upcoming months. |