Most of us are familiar the Brothers Grimm story of Hansel and Gretel, where two young siblings are lured to the gingerbread-ed home of an evil witch who intends to eat them, but is anyone familiar with the story of a grown up Hansel and Gretel who decide to become witch slayers? That's the version that screenwriter D.W. Harper and director Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow) have brought to Paramount Pictures. Gemma Arterton and Jeremy Renner were cast in the title roles last month, with actress Famke Janssen (the X-Men trilogy) joining the cast as the leader of the witches earlier this month.
The casting progress is enough for Paramount to schedule the movie's release date, with Deadline reporting that the $60 million budgeted, 3-D movie is set for a March 2, 2012, release date. Hansel and Gretel's only competition for that weekend is Universal's The Lorax, which is also being released in 3-D.
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is being produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, with McKay telling MTV last May that the movie was "one of my favorite projects."
The script is kick ass. It's one of my favorite projects. Wirkola is an unbelievable director. His script is awesome. We're all just giddy about that one...Also, the witches are awesome in it. Nasty, mean witches, and we'll get some great actresses for them as well.
McKay also expressed interest in turning Hansel and Gretel into a franchise. "If I step back, it feels to me like, 'God, I could watch a bunch of these, just having read the script and knowing what Wirkola's style is,'" McKay admitted. "I'd be very happy if he did three of them."
Posted 02.19.11 by Ryan