This is why we can’t have nice things. So, “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters” — a total piece of crap, dumped into January, receiving scathing reviews and then disappearing forever, right? Hardly. This past weekend, the movie quietly passed $200 million worldwide. Wha? That’s right, international audiences have been gobbling this movie up, with it earning nearly three times what it did in North America, which means one thing: sequel!
Paramount Pictures has announced a followup is in the works thanks to those numbers, though that’s about the only information at the moment. Paramount, MGM, MTV Films and Gary Sanchez Productions are all expected to reprise their positions on part deux, but of course the big question: will Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton return? Frankly, we can’t imagine a scenario in which they will unless they signed options for a followup, but if not, we’d be hard pressed for them to find a reason to come back. But also? Stranger things have happened, and it’s not everyday that something widely expected to be scraped off the bottom of the shoe of 2013 suddenly becomes a franchise.
Director Tommy Wirkola is back in Norway working on a “Dead Snow” sequel and again, it’s not known if he’ll be back or even who will write this thing. But it’s now something that’s a file folder at Paramount, so good job everyone, you’ve just ensured these fairy tales movies won’t end anytime soon. [Deadline]