Snow White & the Huntsman is a 2012 American dark fantasy action-adventure film directed by Rupert Sanders and written by Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock, and Hossein Amini. Produced by Roth Films and distributed by Universal Pictures, the film is based on the Brothers Grimm's 1812 fairy tale "Snow White," and stars Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, and Sam Claflin. The plot follows princess Snow White, who grows up imprisoned by her evil stepmother, the powerful sorceress Ravenna. After Snow White escapes into the forest, Ravenna enlists a huntsman named Eric to capture her, but he eventually becomes Snow White's companion in a quest to overthrow Ravenna and end her dark reign.
Snow White & the Huntsman was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on May 30, 2012, and in the United States on June 1, 2012, by Universal Pictures. The film was a box office success, having grossed $396.6 million worldwide against a $170 million budget. Critics praised the production design and visual effects, and Theron's and Hemsworth's performances, as well as James Newton Howard's score, while the action sequences and Stewart's and Claflin's performances received mixed reviews. The film received two Oscar nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Costume Design at the 85th Academy Awards; Stewart won Worst Actress at the 33rd Golden Raspberry Awards.
A sequel, titled The Huntsman: Winter's War, directed by the first film's visual effects supervisor Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, was released on April 22, 2016, with Hemsworth, Theron, Claflin, and Nick Frost reprising their roles.
Plot
While admiring a bright red rose blooming during a white winter, Queen Eleanor of Tabor pricks her finger on its thorns. Three drops of blood fall onto the snow, and she wishes for a daughter with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, hair as black as a raven's wings, and a heart as strong as the rose.
The queen gives birth to Snow White but falls ill and dies many years later. After her death, Snow White's father, King Magnus, and his army battle an invading army of glass soldiers. King Magnus finds a prisoner called Ravenna, becomes enchanted with her beauty and marries her the next day.
Ravenna is in fact a powerful sorceress who used the false glass army to charm her way into the kingdom. On their wedding night, she confesses that there was a king much like Magnus that used her, hurt her, then discarded her. She kills him before taking over the kingdom. Snow White's childhood friend William and his father, Duke Hammond, escape but are unable to rescue her, and she is locked away in a tower for years. Ravenna does not know why she allowed Snow White to live, but has a feeling about her.
Tabor and its people deteriorate under Queen Ravenna's rule. She periodically drains the youth from the kingdom's young women in order to maintain a spell cast over her as a child by her mother, which allows Ravenna to keep her youthful beauty. When Snow White comes of age, Ravenna learns from her Magic Mirror that Snow White is destined to destroy her unless she consumes the girl's heart, which will make her immortal.
Ravenna sends her brother Finn to bring her the princess, but Snow White escapes into the Dark Forest, where Ravenna has no power. The Queen makes a bargain with Eric the Huntsman, a widower and drunkard, to capture her, promising to bring his wife back to life in exchange. However, when Finn reveals that Ravenna does not actually have the power to revive the dead, the Huntsman helps Snow White escape. The Duke and William learn that Snow White is alive, so William leaves the castle to find her, joining Finn's group as a bowman.
Snow White saves the Huntsman's life by charming a troll that attacks them. They make their way to a fishing village populated by women who have disfigured themselves to make themselves useless to Ravenna. The Huntsman learns Snow White's true identity, and leaves her in the care of the women. He quickly returns when he sees the village being burned down by Finn's men. Snow White and the Huntsman evade them and meet a band of eight dwarfs. The blind dwarf, Muir, perceives that Snow White is the only person who can end Ravenna's reign.
As they travel through a fairy sanctuary, they are attacked by Finn and his men. A battle ensues during which Finn, his men, and one of the dwarfs are killed. William joins the group on their journey to Hammond's castle. Ravenna disguises herself as William and tempts Snow White into eating a poisoned apple before fleeing. William kisses Snow White, though nothing happens. A single tear is shed from her eye.
Snow White's body is taken to Hammond's castle. The Huntsman professes his regret for being unable to save her, as her heart and strength remind him of his wife, Sara. He kisses her yet does not notice a second tear fall from her eyes, as two kisses of true love break the spell. Snow White awakens and rallies the Duke's army to mount a siege against Ravenna.
The dwarfs infiltrate the castle through the sewers and open the gates, allowing the army inside. Snow White and Ravenna fight. When Ravenna is about to kill her, Snow White uses a move the Huntsman taught her and stabs her to death in the heart. The kingdom once again enjoys peace as Snow White is crowned the new Queen of Tabor.
Cast
The Dwarves The Dwarves were played by actors of average height who had their faces digitally attached to small bodies. This caused a protest from the Little People of America.
Ian McShane as Beith, the leader of the Dwarves. Bob Hoskins as Muir, the blind elder Dwarf, who possesses the powers of premonition. This was Hoskins's final role before his retirement from acting later in 2012 due to Parkinson's disease, and subsequent death on April 29, 2014. Ray Winstone as Gort, an ill-tempered Dwarf. Nick Frost as Nion, Beith's right-hand man. Toby Jones as Coll, Duir's older brother. Eddie Marsan as Duir, Coll's younger brother. Johnny Harris as Quert, Muir's son. Brian Gleeson as Gus, the youngest of the Dwarves who develops a bond with Snow White and later sacrifices himself to save her.
Production Development Evan Daugherty initially wrote the screenplay in 2003, when he was studying at NYU. At the time, gritty reboots of fairy tales were not a popular film genre and, according to Daugherty, "no one really knew what to do with it." More problems came when the release of Terry Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm (2005) flopped at the box office which caused potential buyers to be hesitant about the script. The script was finally greenlit after the success of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010).
Casting
Film producers considered casting a lesser-known actress for the role of Snow White, with mention of Riley Keough, Felicity Jones, Bella Heathcote, Alicia Vikander, Lily Collins, and Rachel Maxwell as possible picks. This idea became less likely as known actresses Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart were later rumored to be short-listed for the role. On March 4, 2011, co-producer Palak Patel confirmed that Stewart was offered the role. Winona Ryder was initially considered to play Queen Ravenna, before the role went to Charlize Theron. Tom Hardy was supposedly first offered the role of Eric, the Huntsman, but turned down the offer. The role was then apparently offered to Michael Fassbender, and then Johnny Depp, but both claim to have declined it. Viggo Mortensen was said to have been in negotiations with Universal for the part, but supposedly turned down the role, too. It was claimed that Hugh Jackman was offered the role, but that he declined. In 2011, Thor star Chris Hemsworth was eventually cast in the role of the Huntsman.
Filming
Principal photography took place in the United Kingdom. Most indoor scenes were shot at Pinewood Studios. The beach scenes were predominantly filmed in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the Marloes Sands beach near the village of Marloes between September 26 and 29, 2011. Though the beach was not closed to the public during filming, as filming progressed, certain parts were advised to be off limits. A computer-generated castle was set on nearby Gateholm island. A field above the beach was used for production purposes, and a special wooden ramp was built for vehicles and horses to access the beach. Filming also took place at Frensham Small Pond. The film used academic consultants from the University of Chichester and the University of Oxford for back-up research on fairy tales and medieval battles.
Music
James Newton Howard composed the music for the film. The English band Florence and the Machine recorded "Breath of Life" exclusively for the film, which was reportedly inspired by Theron's character Queen Ravenna. Ioanna Gika of Io Echo performed "Gone", a song that is played at Gus's funeral in the film.
Release The film had its premiere on May 14, 2012, at the Empire, Leicester Square, in London. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in Region 1 on September 11, 2012, with both the theatrical version (127 minutes) and an extended version (132 minutes) available on both formats. The film was released on the same formats in Region 2 on October 1, 2012.
A book based on the film was published June 5, 2012.
Reception Box office
Snow White & the Huntsman earned $155.3 million in North America, along with $241.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $396.6 million. In North America, the film earned $1.38 million from midnight showings. For its opening day, the film topped the box office with $20.5 million. It debuted in first place at the box office during its opening weekend with $56.2 million. It is the seventeenth highest-grossing 2012 film. Outside North America, Snow White & the Huntsman had an opening of $39.3 million, ranking second overall for the weekend behind Men in Black 3; however, it ranked number 1 in 30 countries.
Critical response
Snow White & the Huntsman received mixed reviews from critics. The film has a 48% score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 245 reviews, with an average rating of . The site's consensus states: "While it offers an appropriately dark take on the fairy tale that inspired it, Snow White & the Huntsman is undone by uneven acting, problematic pacing, and a confused script." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 57 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". CinemaScore polls conducted revealed the average grade that filmgoers gave the film was a "B" on an A+ to F scale.