Moviegoers may want to take two bites of the same apple next year. A pair of live-action adventure flicks based on the Snow White fairytale will come out in theatres just months apart.
As it stands, the first, still-unnamed Snow White movie is scheduled for release on March 16. That gives moviegoers 2½ months before Snow White and the Huntsman on June 1.
Executives are confident that both projects can succeed, given their differences in stars, tone and plot.
However bizarre the coincidence is, history shows that two similar projects like these can both attract big audiences.
In May 1998, viewers turned out for Deep Impact, about a comet threatening Earth. They showed up again that July when an asteroid did the same in Armageddon. Deep Impact sold $US349 million ($333 million) in tickets worldwide, and Armageddon followed with $US555 million.
Audiences didn't duck for cover either when Dante's Peak blew in February 1997, only to have Volcano erupt that April. The first made $US169 million and the other $US120 million at the box office.
The latest standoff pits a couple of studios against each other - new studio Relativity Media and its longtime distribution partner, Universal Pictures.
Since 2005, Relativity has provided financial backing for most of Universal's new movies in a deal that was to last through to 2015. But Relativity has been eager to make money from distributing as well, as it did with the March 8 release of Limitless, which has sold more than $US150 million in tickets worldwide.
So in June, Relativity passed its co-financing deal with Universal to Relativity's financial backer, Elliott Management. That paved the way for the two studios to compete head to head - Relativity with the unnamed movie and Universal with Huntsman. Executives say the two Snow White movies are spaced far enough apart so that advertising one won't inadvertently drive people to the other.
Most movies make 95 per cent of their sales in the first four weeks. On average, people in North America see four movies a year. There's plenty of time to get refreshed and go out again.
"Ten weeks in the movie business is a lifetime," Huntsman producer Joe Roth said. He should know. Roth was head of Disney's studios when its Armageddon opened second but still sold $US200 million more in tickets worldwide than Deep Impact.
The casts of both Snow Whites are also distinct enough to merit a return trip to the theatre. In Relativity's version, billed as a family comedy, Julia Roberts is in for an intriguing role reversal as the former Pretty Woman plays the Evil Queen. Lily Collins, who starred as the daughter of Sandra Bullock's character in The Blind Side, will play Snow White.
In Universal's epic action adventure, Kristen Stewart of Twilight fame gets Karate Kid-like fight training from buff Chris Hemsworth of Thor. Hemsworth plays the mercenary Huntsman, who disobeys orders to kill her. The action-packed movie also involves a love triangle with Prince Charmant, played by Sam Claflin and stars Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen.
Timing and casting aside, Snow White is a tale that has been told many times with many different plot twists.
These versions follow that tradition. Relativity's movie has Snow White teaming up with the seven dwarves to fight the Evil Queen. In Universal's, she teams up with the Huntsman to fight back.
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