The butt of many jokes at the beginning of 2013, "Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters" had the last laugh, earning over $225 million worldwide (thank you, international audiences) and spawning development on a sequel. And writer/director Tommy Wirkola (whose "Dead Snow 2: Red Vs. Dead" just took home a couple of awards at Fantastic Fest) has just provided a update on the status of that sequel.
“I’ve written the script for it. I’ve given it to Paramount and it’s up to them now," he told Shock Til You Drop. "But I don’t know what’s going to happen. Jeremy [Renner] is so busy these days, I don’t know how they’re going to juggle all of that, but it’s up to [Paramount]. We’ll see. Hopefully, I’ll get to do another film first."
"They really liked the script I gave them," he continued. "The first film was a learning curve for me working in the studio system and the script I wrote for the original was so different. We ended up taking a lot out and altering stuff that first time. I’m smarter now. I tried taking what I learned and still delivered a sequel script that’s an R-rated action film.”
So where do things stand with Renner? Already part of the Marvel-verse and the ‘Bourne’ series, his schedule is pretty full, but he’s evidently not yet signed for the ‘Hansel And Gretel’ sequel.
"Not that I’m aware of, no," he told CinemaBlend when asked. "I know they’re going to make one. I know they’re writing a script. And that’s when they will probably engage with any talent."
And while Renner concedes that he’s very busy, one should not mistake that for being too good to return for more fairy tale adventures. "I don’t have any problem with it," he said. "Yeah. It was a lot of fun. It was fun to do that movie, and just have a ball."
So we’ll see if the script goes anywhere and if Paramount pursues it, but in the age of franchises, we’d reckon they’ll give it an honest shot.
