There's a New Princess Movie Coming to Hulu!
“When a beautiful, strong-willed princess refuses to wed the cruel sociopath to whom she is betrothed, she is kidnapped and locked in a remote tower of her father’s castle. With her scorned, vindictive suitor intent on taking her father’s throne, the princess must protect her family and save the kingdom.”
I know what you're thinking. This sounds like yet another badass warrior princess story that follows the modern-day formula to a T. Even the title is about as generic as you can get. They probably would have simply called it Princess if that title wasn't already taken by an older made-for-TV movie. As generic as it sounds, an important factor to consider is that even though the film is owned by Disney, it's not being released under the Disney name, which gives the filmmakers more freedom to try something different. The press release also included some new images of the film's rebellious heroine played by actress Joey King, which you can see below.
These first look photos feature an angry-looking woman with long red hair in a tattered white dress brandishing a sword as she steps over an unconscious body that was likely from her own hand. Her appearance and demeanor remind me of Merida from Brave, who is my least favorite Disney Princess. The whole forced marriage thing isn't exactly new either, though this is one of only a few stories in which the princess is actually punished for refusing to go through with such a task. Even though the plot does not offer much that we haven't already seen, I do like that it combines the old trope of kidnapping princesses with the new trope of the princess being strong enough to defend herself. It just goes to show that would-be princess captors need to come up with some better strategies.
It's not too surprising that this movie is going directly to streaming as it reminds me of many of the made-for-TV movies that Disney used to air on Sunday nights for the Wonderful World of Disney. The R-rating implies that it isn't exactly family friendly, but it could still be an empowering tale for a popcorn night. It's no longer taboo to have lots of action in a princess movie, so mixing the fantasy and action genres may work in its favor by attracting a wider audience. The blood-stained dress and sword from the second teaser image hint that this film will have a heavy amount of gore. While I'm not exactly looking forward to that, it does make it stand apart from the typical family-friendly fare that this genre is prone to.
I'm not expecting to add The Princess to any of my top ten lists, but I am a little curious to see a princess movie that's so much less marketable than the ones I'm used to. Right now, the only good princess content on Hulu is Find Me in Paris, and that ended a couple of years ago. It's an interesting change of pace to see a gory action flick about a fairy tale princess that isn't afraid to get too violent. Maybe it'll be like Sweeney Todd and surprise us all. We'll find out on July 1st when it gets released on Hulu and other Disney-owned streaming platforms internationally. Are you excited to see The Princess, or does it look too much like an overused trope? Let me know in the comments below!
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