Universal Pictures has confirmed that it is developing a sequel to the recent fairy tale box office hit.
Despite not being a particularly good film, Snow White and the Huntsman did very well at the box office on opening weekend, and continues to show strong, mostly on the strength of its lead actor.
I can tell you that when I went to see the film, the theater was quite busy (which is odd, as I go on Friday mornings), with a fair number of the people either dressed as vampires or otherwise showing devotion to the Twilight franchise.
When Kristen Stewart first appeared on screen, the audience gasped, and I heard several around me titter to each other and exclaim at her beauty. It was surreal. The actress has a clear following, and despite delivering a suboptimal performance, casting her in the film was not a mistake – at least as far as the box office is concerned.
Thus it shouldn’t really surprise me that the studio is moving forward with a sequel, but it’s difficult to wrap my head around what a sequel to Snow White would actually look like. The story doesn’t have a continuation in the original tale. In fact, it has a clear denouement: Snow and the Prince get together and are happy forever.
There have been other attempts to continue the story, but usually in a ‘fractured’ fairytale style, and almost always from a feminist viewpoint, commentary on the concept of needing a ‘prince’ to be happy, etc. I don’t think that that’s where this film will be going, especially since the end of the film leaves the viewer questioning Snow’s loyalty to her prince. The film might focus on Snow’s need to decide between the Prince and the Huntsman, which is the type of dramatic hoopla that made Twilight so popular, and is frankly exactly the type of film we don’t need.
The studio is currently in talks with Rupert Sanders to return as the director of this sequel, which is being written by David Koepp. Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, and Charlize Theron all have multi-picture deals, so they will likely be back, though I’m not sure what role Theron would play, considering her fate in the first film. Also, there is no word if Sam Claflin or any of the other supporting actors will be returning.
We have no plot details for the unnamed Snow White and the Huntsman sequel, and no production or release dates have been announced.
