Is 2012 the Year of the Fairy Tale Movie?

While this year’s Beastly with Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens was apparently terrible, Emma Watson’s next project after the Harry Potter films will be a version of Beauty and the Beast directed by Pan’s Labryinth’s Guillermo del Toro.

image: http://www.netizenwallpapers.com/Emma-Watson-New-2011_4994.html

There are three versions of Snow White in production, and all of them have a certain "incredible" factor to them. Relativity’s Tarsem Singh-directed Snow White will include Julia Roberts as the Evil Stepmother—so that toothy laugh is going to be used for evil!—The Blind Side’s Lily Collins as the eponymous princess (whose eyebrows are awesome), The Social Network’s Armie Hammer, and Nathan Lane. It’s supposed to be an adventure comedy, which I don’t think has really been done with Snow White yet. Yes!

image: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/209/l1lf0.png/sr=1

Another version is Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman, about Snow White (Kristen Stewart) learning how to fend off the evil Queen (Charlize Theron) from the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) and come back to her Prince Charmant (Sam Claflin). I automatically love anything with Sam Claflin in it, but 1, what is with the crappy “Prince Charming” pun names for the love interest prince, and 2, let’s hope Kristen Stewart’s body hasn’t atrophied from playing the clumsy Bella Swan and she actually has some great fight scenes as well.

image: http://backseatcuddler.com/2010/06/18/kristen-stewart-cant-wait-to-start-twilight-breaking-dawn/

Finally, Disney’s remake is currently called Snow White and the Seven, a Seven Samurai-inspired story. So that would be awesome, but apparently no one's told them that Tom Holt did that already.

image: http://www.amazon.com/Snow-White-Seven-Samurai-Holt/dp/1857239881/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

There are also three versions of Sleeping Beauty—one, with True Grit’s Hailee Steinfeld that will hopefully have her do something more than sleep.

image: http://justjaredjr.buzznet.com/2010/12/17/hailee-steinfeld-first-time-sag-nominee/

Another, Maleficent, is about the evil sorceress who throws a tantrum about not getting invited to the baby's party in the first place. She might be played by Angelina Jolie, in a script written by Linda Woolverton.

image: http://www.theangelinajolie.com/view/35332/Angelina_Jolie_On_Top_Of_Barack_Obama_On_Top_Of_Paris_Hilton_For_Spam_Subject_Line_Championship

And lastly but most recently, Julia Leigh’s version from the Cannes Film Festival starring Emily Browning playing another character that is a prostitute, except that her real life, and her fantasy life (where she goes when she is doing her job) presumably is not about her being a stripper or prostitute or anything.

image: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/30/sleeping-beauty-poster-emily-browning_n_855829.html

There are two versions of The Little Mermaid—one with Hanna’s director Joe Wright, who is planning on keeping Hans Christian Andersen’s downer ending, and one by the director and writer of Country Strong, Shana Feste, which is called Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale, and involves a modern-day love triangle.

image: http://www.bestourism.com/items/di/1097?title=Little-Mermaid-Statue&b=174

While Peter Pan feels like it’s pushing the fairy tale idea (I don’t count out the Little Mermaid, that story is old), Channing Tatum pitched a version where Hook and Peter are brothers (even though he won’t be playing either), while Aaron Eckhart will play a hardboiled detective who is looking for the child kidnapper Pan. I wonder if he’ll stay a child.

image: http://www.bookchums.com/ebook-details.php?b=MzI1OTc=

The Wizard of Oz (which was written by L. Frank Baum, and was apparently about populism and silver) is getting three versions: Sam Raimi is directing Oz, the Great and the Powerful with James Franco, Mila Kunis, and Michelle Williams.

image: http://www.onlineauction.com/index.php?page=auction:view_item&auction_id=593392&title=GREAT_ILLUSTRATED_CLASSICS_THE_WIZARD_OF_OZ,_L._FRANK_BAUM,_BOOK,_BOOKS,_NEW

Warner Brothers and New Line Cinema also have versions that are not yet fleshed out, while the awesome musical Wicked is still being pushed as a movie, and may be directed by JJ Abrams or Ryan Murphy, neither of which sounds like a particularly good fit to me.

image: http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/07/who-will-direct-oz-musical-wicked-rob.html

Finally, the only two fairy tales without duplicates are Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters with Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton (hopefully one of them has a love interest to avoid accidental brother-sister chemistry) and...

image: http://ah_coo.tripod.com/hansel_gretel.htm

Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Killer with Nicholas Hoult.

image: http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/illustrations/jackbeanstalk/rackhamjack4.html