Disney Halts Development on Revisionist Snow White Film ‘The Order of the Seven’

Posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012 by Russ Fischer

For a decade, Disney has been preparing a new live-action Snow White film, and in the couple years it has taken the shape of The Order of the Seven, previously Snow and the Seven, a film that would re-cast the Seven Dwarfs as a band of international warriors (the better to court non-US box office) protecting Saoirse Ronan. The Snow White character was to be re-imagined as “a young woman in 19th century Hong Kong who escapes her wicked stepmother and takes refuge with seven men belonging to an ancient order dedicated to fighting demons and dragons.”

Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby were hired to rework the script very recently, and commercial helmer Michael Gracey was set to make his directorial debut with the movie. (Scott Elder and Josh Harmon originally wrote, and Michael Arndt rewrote last year, with Francis Lawrence previously attached to direct.) But now it is off. Read More »

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Saoirse Ronan Will Lead Disney’s ‘The Order of the Seven,’ Formerly ‘Snow and the Seven’

Posted on Friday, February 10th, 2012 by Russ Fischer

For quite some time, Disney has been developing a new live-action version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in which the old story would get a fairly modern makeover. Michael Chabon wrote the initial version, but the film has been tweaked a few times over the past decade with directors as disparate as Yuen Wo-ping and Francis Lawrence attached at different times.

Then something happened. Or, really, two somethings happened, as Universal and Relativity Media beat Disney to the punch with Snow White and the Huntsman and Mirror, Mirror, both of which are set to open this year. Two live-action Snow White re-tellings is goofy enough, and adding a third would strain audience interest like crazy.

So the Disney movie, which has had various titles over the years (most commonly Snow and the Seven) has been reworked again to eliminate all overt Snow White ties. What’s left is The Order of the Seven, a martial arts action film centered around a young heroine. Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones, Hanna) is in talks to take that lead role. Read More »