Long before Relativity and Universal decided to put two separate Snow White movies into production at the same time, Disney had been developing its own take on the tale: Snow and the Seven, an action-oriented version that had attracted talent like Michael Chabon, Little Miss Sunshine writer Michael Arndt, and director Francis Lawrence. You might have thought that when faced with two competing projects on the same subject (not to mention an ABC fall drama, Once Upon a Time, that also features a Snow White character), Disney would decide to back down and chalk up those years of development as a missed opportunity. You thought wrong! According to THR, Disney’s version will shoot early next year with commercial director Michael Gracey making his film debut, and it will have a new title, The Order of the Seven, that emphasizes this project’s unique angle: This time, the Snow White figure is protected by seven warriors in nineteenth-century China. Meanwhile, who does poor Cinderella have to throw a glass slipper at to get some big-screen love these days? [THR]
