Snow White and the Huntsman has been one of the year’s biggest and best blockbusters, headlined by the awesome trio of Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, and Charlize Theron.
The Universal film took its $170m. budget to almost $400m. internationally, and confirmation of a sequel officially came back in June, when writer David Koepp signed on to pen the script.
THR reported overnight that Koepp has now exited the project, with Universal settling him out of his contract to transform the sequel/spin-off into something other than what Koepp had originally been hired to write.
Here, the reports become a little conflicting. THR’s original report states that the sequel/spin-off now envisaged will be focused on Chris Hemsworth, and that Kristen Stewart won’t be invited back for the follow-up.
The LA Times, however, write that Universal insist that the film focusing on Hemsworth’s the Huntsman is moving forward, and that Stewart could still be a character in the film, despite the earlier report.
As yet, there’s still no word on who the director will be, with Rupert Sanders’ original contract not obliging him to return for the sequel, but his name is still on the list of possible directors.
*Spoiler alert: I’m about to start discussing plot details from the first film*
Talk of a sequel has been circling since before the film was released, and the possibility of it being a sort of spin-off for The Huntsman, rather than a direct sequel, has been previously suggested. The ending of the first film could have made it difficult for Stewart’s Snow White, crowned Queen by the finale, to continue her Joan of Arc-esque role, which was one of the things that made the first film so good.
The sequel/spin-off could have more room for action and entertaining gallivanting if it were to be focused on Hemsworth’s Huntsman, but I think we’d all still love to see a return from Stewart’s Snow White.
I think it could make for a great film if the kingdom were to come under threat, and Snow White herself were to call on the Huntsman to join her in battle, but it looks like Universal might not agree with me there.
For now, with Koepp out and the search hopefully underway for a new writer, I think we may be kept in the dark for the time being one way or the other. I can see that a spin-off, rather than a direct sequel, could give Universal more room to make the film a bigger blockbuster, but I’m nonetheless hoping that Stewart will be back, at least in a cameo capacity, and anything more would be a huge bonus. More as we get it.
