Disney Fairytale Meets R-rated Violence in 'The Princess'

File Photo: The actress was spotted rocking Andrea Wazen's Gloria mules. File/AFP
File Photo: The actress was spotted rocking Andrea Wazen's Gloria mules. File/AFP
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Disney Fairytale Meets R-rated Violence in 'The Princess'

File Photo: The actress was spotted rocking Andrea Wazen's Gloria mules. File/AFP
File Photo: The actress was spotted rocking Andrea Wazen's Gloria mules. File/AFP

For a Disney film called "The Princess," Joey King's new movie has a lot of R-rated violence, death, and even the odd use of the word "bitch."

But from the moment her tough-as-nails royal heroine stabs a hairpin into a henchman's eyeball, it is clear 20th Century Studios' "The Princess" -- out July 1 on streaming platforms -- is not your typical family-friendly fairytale, said AFP.

"I mean it wouldn't be fun if it wasn't violent, you know!" King told AFP on the red carpet at Thursday's premiere in Hollywood.

"I was constantly telling our producer Toby [Jaffe], I was, like, 'we need more blood on the dress!'"

Described as "Rapunzel" meets action-thriller "The Raid," the live-action film begins with King's sleeping princess, clad in a wedding dress, awakening as a prisoner at the top of a dizzying tower.

A series of highly stylized, female-led fight scenes unfurl as she bids to escape from nemeses including former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko ("Quantum of Solace.")

The action is more reminiscent of "Game of Thrones" than "Sleeping Beauty" or "Snow White."

"The idea of doing a princess movie with Disney that completely goes against anything they've ever done is just perfect," said Ben Lustig, who co-wrote the film.

His original premise was "how can we take the trope of that princess stuck at the top of the tower, that everybody knows, and then flip it on its head?"

Lustig and Jake Thornton's script was bought by 20th Century Studios, a Disney subsidiary, and the film is released on Hulu in the US and Disney+ internationally.

Among the film's producers is Derek Kolstad, who created the "John Wick" action films starring Keanu Reeves as a violent hitman.

"The joke at the beginning is 'what if Princess Peach saved herself, didn't need Mario, and just beat the crap out of Bowser?'" said Kolstad.

"I don't think John (Wick) would cross her!" he joked.

The film takes the recent trend of feisty, fiercely independent Disney princesses a few steps further, but it "didn't want to go too soap-boxy," with the emphasis on fun, said Kolstad.

- 'Crazy ideas' -
The role is also a departure for 22-year-old King, star of Netflix's smash teen film series "The Kissing Booth," who will soon be seen opposite Brad Pitt in action-comedy "Bullet Train."

"It is so exhausting, it is so hard on your body," said King, of the film's many fight sequences.

"But there's something about it that is so fulfilling and rewarding -- I absolutely fell in love with action."

The film was directed by Le-Van Kiet, a Vietnamese-born filmmaker whose 2019 martial arts thriller "Furie" became his birth country's highest-grossing film of all time.

"One of the first things I wanted to do was have her do a Wushu kick," he said. "Crazy ideas, but the studio went with it. And I'm glad they did!"

As well as acquiring a new set of battle skills, King said the movie has fulfilled a dream of hers.

"I'm not your typical Disney princess. I love that about this character," she said.

"But also I love that I'm technically still a Disney princess!"



Musicians Release Silent Album to Protest UK’s AI Copyright Changes 

A message reading "AI artificial intelligence", a keyboard, and robot hands are seen in this illustration taken January 27, 2025. (Reuters)
A message reading "AI artificial intelligence", a keyboard, and robot hands are seen in this illustration taken January 27, 2025. (Reuters)
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Musicians Release Silent Album to Protest UK’s AI Copyright Changes 

A message reading "AI artificial intelligence", a keyboard, and robot hands are seen in this illustration taken January 27, 2025. (Reuters)
A message reading "AI artificial intelligence", a keyboard, and robot hands are seen in this illustration taken January 27, 2025. (Reuters)

More than 1,000 musicians including Kate Bush and Cat Stevens on Tuesday released a silent album to protest proposed changes to Britain's copyright laws which could allow tech firms to train artificial intelligence models using their work.

Creative industries globally are grappling with the legal and ethical implications of AI models that can produce their own output after being trained on popular works without necessarily paying the creators of the original content.

Britain, which Prime Minister Keir Starmer wants to become an AI superpower, has proposed relaxing laws that currently give creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works the right to control the ways their material may be used.

The proposed changes would allow AI developers to train their models on any material to which they have lawful access, and would require creators to proactively opt out to stop their work being used.

The changes have been heavily criticized by many artists, who say it would reverse the principle of copyright law, which grants exclusive control to creators for their work.

"In the music of the future, will our voices go unheard," said Bush, whose 1985 hit "Running Up That Hill" enjoyed a resurgence in 2022 thanks to Netflix show "Stranger Things".

The co-written album titled "Is This What We Want?" features recordings of empty studios and performance spaces to represent what organizers say is the potential impact on artists' livelihoods should the changes go ahead.

A public consultation on the legal changes closes later on Tuesday.

Responding to the album, a government spokesperson said the current copyright and AI regime was holding back the creative industries, media and AI sector from "realizing their full potential."

"We have engaged extensively with these sectors throughout and will continue to do so. No decisions have been taken," the spokesperson said, adding that the government's proposals will be set out in due course.

Annie Lennox, Billy Ocean, Hans Zimmer, Tori Amos and The Clash are among the musicians urging the government to review its plans.

"The government's proposal would hand the life's work of the country's musicians to AI companies, for free, letting those companies exploit musicians’ work to outcompete them," said organizer Ed Newton-Rex, the founder of Fairly Trained, a non-profit that certifies generative AI companies for fairer training data practices.

"The UK can be leaders in AI without throwing our world-leading creative industries under the bus."