Nathan Lane to serve in Snow White film

Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Nathan Lane is in final negotiations to play a servant in one of the three rival Snow White movies in development.

The untitled Relativity Media project stars Julia Roberts as the evil queen and Lily Collins as her step-daughter. They vie for the affection of a prince (Armie Hammer) who has come to the land in disguise and looking for someone to love him for himself, not his title. The queen wants to destroy Snow's beauty in her blind determination to be the most beautiful in the land.

In what is sure to be a showy role, Lane will play the queen's main servant, a man loyal to her out of fear. Tarsem Singh is directing.

Elsewhere, a Universal movie will star Kristen Stewart as Snow White and Charlize Theron as the evil queen, while Disney is moving ahead on a project set in 19th century China.

Both Universal and Relativity are racing to get fully cast and it's becoming almost a daily tit-for-tat as to who can get to the starting line faster. (On Wednesday Universal announced up-and-comer Sam Claflin, making his U.S. premiere in the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie, will act as the prince in its "Snow White and the Huntsman.")

Relativity is making what it calls a "spirited adventure comedy" and is to start production in June. The film is slated for release on June 29, 2012.