It all starts with a “Once upon a time…” for a classic fairy tale to start. Then comes the conventional aspects of such a tale; a hero, a damsel in distress, a monster or villain of some sort, mythical creatures, and the overall victory of good over evil. Well, the movies of the present seem to hold true to these ideas but now with a much darker tone and unforeseen twists.   

The recent movie gracing television with trailers is “Red Riding Hood” starring Amanda Seyfried as Red and Gary Oldman as a Priest/Wolfhunter. The original plot is classic, a little girl dressed in red going to her grandmother’s house where a hungry wolf waits in disguise. And the ending is predictably happy, a huntsman comes along and saves the day. Now let’s compare the original to the plot of today’s upcoming film. “Red Riding Hood” still stays true to a young girl in a red cloak but the journey to grandma’s isn’t as simple. The movie was heavily influenced by the existence of “Twilight” and its broody take on a cursed love.

Producer of the film, Leonardo Dicaprio, helped give birth to the idea and quoted to the LA Times, “Wouldn’t it be cool to do a Gothic twist on ‘Red Riding Hood,’ with the wolf being a werewolf, and just have a cool, sexy romantic thriller?” The romance stems from Seyfried being torn between the mysterious love of her life and another equally tantalizing guy chosen by her parents. The twist; one of the two beaus could be the big bad wolf and Oldman’s character will risk anything to find out which one, even if it means using Red as bait. The movie is set to come out March 11.

A little closer to be released on March 4 is “Beastly,” a modern take on “Beauty and the Beast” starring Vanessa Hudgens as the beauty who can look past physical appearances and Alex Pettyfer as the deformed boy who needs love to break his curse. Said curse is bestowed upon him by a witch portrayed by Mary-Kate Olsen. The twist is that it’s set in present day New York and the two protagonists (even the witch) are teens.

Instead of the beast looking like the cartoon figure people usually envision they will instead be introduced with a very much alive and human like form with “…seven pieces on his head and other 60 tattoos and individual scares…” as reported by HitFix. The whole idea of the curse will hit a little more close to home since the story will be much more realistic.

Next to return to the big screen is the dainty and porcelain like princess, Snow White. This time though, she isn’t so fragile. On top of that, her presence is going to grace the screen three different times. The first adaption is “Snow White and Huntsman.” In this version, the huntsman is ordered to kill Snow White in the beginning of the movie but actually runs away with her and helps train her to face the evil queen. If that isn’t dark enough, the movie involves the evil queen draining beautiful woman for their looks and an epic battle between the dwarves and the royal army. Roles confirmed for the film are not 100% concrete but news has come out that Charlize Theron will probably be the Queen, Viggo Mortensen as the Hunstman, and either Kristen Stewart or Selena Gomez as the princess.

The second version coming out is “The Brothers Grimm: Snow White.” Movieweb writes that the plot “will eschew the traditional story in favor of a more modern tale full of comedy and adventure. After her evil stepmother kills her father and destroys the kingdom, Snow White bands together with a gang of seven quarrelsome dwarfs to reclaim what is rightly hers.” Said evil stepmother will be played by the only confirmed celebrity in the project, Julia Roberts. Rumors focusing around the title role have been linked to Natalie Portman but nothing has been confirmed. Anything else about the film has yet to be released either.        

The third and final film focusing around the idea is produced by Disney itself who had created the famous movie of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” so long ago. This time though, it’s a bit different. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” is going to have a plot that goes as following according to WorstPreviews.com; “(It) centers on a 19th century Englishwoman who returns to her Hong Kong home for her father’s funeral, only to discover that her stepmother is plotting against her. She escapes to mainland China, finding solace among a rogue band of seven international warriors.” Again, rumors of Natalie Portman being the leading lady have circulated in the press.

The next fairy tale to get a redo will be “Hansel and Gretel.” If anything the movie seems more like a sequel gone haywire. Titled “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters,” the film will follow the two young children into adult hood and, after surviving a hungry witch themselves, decide to hunt down similar villains. A fairy tale can’t possibly get any grimmer when the original characters of innocent children grow up to be killers (even if it is for a somewhat noble cause). The two roles will be portrayed by Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton.

Will audiences buy into this new darker kind of tale? Answer: probably. While everyone loves the classics and will always cherish them, it’s interesting to see such innocent and at times “cute” stories go in a completely different direction. While some critics may label them ridiculous it will be up to audiences to deem them worthy or not to have a happy ending.