Disney Announces a New Film Will Take the Place of Its Live-Action ‘Snow White’

Walt Disney Studios has announced that a new film will take the place of its live-action adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which had originally been scheduled for a box office premiere in March 2024.

Credit: Disney/Canva

On Friday, The Walt Disney Company shocked the world of entertainment fandom with its announcement that plans for the 2024 debut of the extremely controversial live-action remake of its 1937 film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, had been scrapped, a decision that was predicted months ago by some in the industry.

Some Saw This Coming

In late August, Matt Belloni, formerly of The Hollywood Reporter, predicted that Disney would “almost certainly move” its initial box office release date for the newest take on the Snow White film. Belloni pointed out that Warner Bros. had just announced the delay of its release of Dune: Part Two from November 3, 2023, to March 15, 2024, because of the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes.

Credit: Facebook/SAG-AFTRA

The entertainment writer, now at Puck News, said there was concern that the release of a film as controversial as Disney’s Snow White just after the release of Dune “might not be ideal,” as a potential perfect storm scenario could be brewing and ultimately seal Disney’s demise in its newest remake offering.

A Glossing-Over of the Ugly Controversy

On Friday, in a glaringly obvious attempt to skirt around the aforementioned controversy, Disney posted a short blurb on the company’s official website titled “Disney Showcases Magical Look at Snow White,” though the dwarfed post (pun intended) had little to do with a magical look at anything, and the image to which fans were subjected hardly felt, as Disney put it, “magical.”

Credit: Screenshot/Walt Disney Company website

The post was comprised of only a few words, and news of Disney’s decision to bump the live-action remake premiere to 2025 was sugarcoated in a manner only possible within the Disney empire:

“Disney’s Snow White”—a live-action musical reimagining of the classic 1937 film—is coming to theaters on March 21, 2025.

The film—which stars Rachel Zegler (“West Side Story”)—invites audiences back into the magical world of Snow White with beloved songs and recognizable characters such as the Evil Queen and, of course, Dopey, Grumpy, Sneezy, Bashful, Happy, Sleepy, and Doc.

The film is directed by Marc Webb (“The Amazing Spider-Man 2”), produced by Marc Platt (“The Little Mermaid”), and includes original songs from Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“The Greatest Showman”).

Credit: Disney/Animated Times

And though diehard Disney fans who have been up in arms over the release of the film were nearly filled with an optimism they haven’t experienced for a while, the absence of updates about the film itself, news about an upcoming trailer, and explanations created more questions than answers (not that they’re complaining, mind you).

More to the Story

Then, almost immediately following the bombshell announcement by The Walt Disney Company regarding Snow White‘s delay, news followed that another film is on deck to take the place of Disney’s live-action take-two of the classic 1937 film, and so far, the film has yet to position itself in center of all things controversial like its would-have-been predecessor.

PIXAR Animation Studios had planned the release of its new film, Elio, for March 1, 2024, but part of Friday’s announcement included news of the delay of PIXAR’s newest CGI-generated film as well–all the way to June 13, 2025. The film is PIXAR’s 29th feature-length offering, which follows the adventures of 11-year-old Elio, an “underdog with an active imagination who finds himself inadvertently beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide.”

PIXAR’s “Elio” (2025)/Credit: PIXAR Animation Studios

As Elio is slated for a release date after the newly rescheduled release date for Disney’s Snow White, it clearly will serve as the film’s replacement. But Elio‘s postponement means that another PIXAR film will earn the title of the first new Disney film of 2024, and it’s one that fans have been hopeful about since 2015.

Welcome Back, “Inside Out”

In addition to Elio, PIXAR Animation Studios has another film slated for a box office release, this one on June 14, 2024. And with the shake-up at Disney that has filmmakers shuffling the deck of new releases, PIXAR’s Inside Out 2 will take the place of Disney’s Snow White as the first major film release for the company in 2024.

Credit: PIXAR Animation Studios

The Sequel Everyone Wanted is On Its Way

Inside Out debuted in 2015 and received rave reviews from fans and critics alike. The film remains PIXAR’s sixth most lucrative film of all time, having amassed nearly $860 million, and it ultimately led to the development and production of PIXAR’s Soul (2020).

RELATED: I Never Dreamed a Disney Film Could Help Me Process the Grief of Loss, Until Now

Joe Gardner plays the piano in PIXAR’s “Soul” (2020)/Credit: PIXAR Animation Studios

Inside Out follows the story of Riley, a young girl learning to navigate adolescence. She loves her friends, her school, and hockey, but news of her family’s move to a brand-new city threatens everything Riley has come to associate with comfort, safety, security, and belonging. The storyline, told mostly from the vantage point of the emotions at the helm of Riley’s mindset, deals with serious issues–but in a way that’s age-appropriate and even fosters conversations between parents and kids who see the film together.

Details about the plot for the sequel are scarce at this time, but PIXAR has revealed that fans will get to see Riley in her teenage years, and as the first installment was pure brilliance from the mind of the studio’s Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter, we’re nearly assured one more reason to love PIXAR.

PIXAR’s Chief, Pete Docter/Credit: Disney Parks

For everything he’s capable of doing, breathing life into, bringing to fruition–for all his talents and abilities–Pete Docter is simply incapable of writing a bad film.

Inside Out 2 debuts in theaters on June 14, 2014.