Latest news with #RobbieCollin
Telegraph
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
I actually loved Snow White – apart from one thing
' Disney's new Snow White flops on sleepy opening weekend ', 'Disney's Woke Disaster', 'Disney's Exhaustingly Awful Reboot', 'Snow White Car Crash'. Nothing makes me want to see a film more than headlines like these. Because it's one of two things, I thought to myself as the lights went down in the cinema on Sunday night, and I have to know which. Either the film really is apocalyptically awful, or this is one of those outsized, tribal reactions we see so often nowadays, where – based on everything something 'stands for' – we've decided to hate it from the outset. (Although one critic who did buck the trend, it should be noted, was our very own Robbie Collin.) To be fair, there was plenty to feel concerned about: the cretinous things the lead actress, Rachel Zegler, kept coming out with every time she opened her mouth in the lead-up to its release. From her panning of the stunning 1937 classic ('there's a big focus on her love story with the guy who literally stalks her. Weird') to her pathetic you-go-girl-isms: 'She's not going to be dreaming about true love; she's going to be dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be.' Then there were the little people. Or lack of. In an own-goal so wondrous I can't stop trying to imagine the boardroom conversation that clinched it (because how can more than one person be that stupid?) Disney opted not to include real members of the dwarfism community … in Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Responding to the controversy, the studio explained that in order to 'avoid reinforcing stereotypes' they were 'taking a different approach'. Which is a bit like a global company announcing that because they value women so highly, they will not, henceforth, be hiring any female employees. And by the way, try to imagine a film in which all the parts are played by actors – except the female ones, which are CGI? As I sat in that (almost empty) cinema on Sunday night, marvelling at the fact that at the family-friendly viewing time of 5pm only eight people had come to watch a £217 million live-action remake of one of the most famous fairytales of all time, I did find the CGI little people hard to get over. Which is a great shame because, aside from that, I've got to admit I loved it. It's straightforwardly beautiful to watch. Both Gal Gadot (who plays the evil Queen) and Zegler were mesmerising (and so gorgeous they might as well have been CGI) and the songs were great too (if not as great as the original's). What's more, much of the 'wokeness' I'd been expecting just wasn't there. Spoiler alert: after all the fuss, the infamous 'non-consensual' true love's kiss does happen. As I write, my algorithms are alerting me to the latest Snow White meme: photos of deserted movie theatres with no bookings in primetime slots 'as woke-buster becomes hilariously abysmal flop' – and it's pretty clear that this particular apple has been well and truly poisoned.
Express Tribune
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy makes the biggest opening collection at UK box office
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, the fourth installment in the beloved franchise starring Renée Zellweger, has achieved a record-breaking debut at the UK and Ireland box office. Universal confirmed that the romantic comedy grossed £11.8 million ($14.9 million) in its first four days, making it the highest-grossing opening for a romantic comedy in the region. The film surpassed the previous record set by Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason in 2004. According to Comscore, the film dominated cinemas across 2,250 screens and accounted for 45% of total box office revenue in the UK and Ireland on Saturday. It also outperformed Captain America: Brave New World, which debuted in second place with $8 million. Universal further revealed that the film recorded the highest-ever opening for a Working Title production and ranked as the 11th biggest Universal debut in the market, trailing Jurassic World Dominion but surpassing Oppenheimer, Minions, and Despicable Me 3. Despite its strong UK performance, Mad About the Boy has not been released theatrically in North America, where it premiered directly on the Peacock streaming platform. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Front Row, The Telegraph film critic Robbie Collin attributed this decision to Bridget Jones being "an extremely local concern," noting that the character, created by British author Helen Fielding, has less appeal in the US. Beyond the UK and Ireland, the film also topped the weekend box office in several European countries, including Poland, the Netherlands, and Norway, Universal reported.
