DEADLINE REPORTS A SWATH SEQUEL IS IN THE MAKING BUT WILL SANDERS RETURN ~ SWATH CROSSES $100K

Universal

Deadline is reporting that David Koepp is commissioned to pen the sequel of Snow White and the Huntsman. We wrote about an earlier Deadline report in April including how the studio wanted to fast track the film.


Although critics have been less than generous to the film, fans have clearly been on board with a $56 million opening weekend.  The film has taken in an estimated $130 million world-wide as of yesterday and poised to take in another $24 million this weekend domestically. SWATH has outperformed all expectations and still has more major markets to open (Australia, Japan, Russia). 


Deadline reports that Universal is in talks with SWATH director Rupert Sanders for the sequel stating, "he [Sanders] had a great time making the first movie." 


However, Sanders is not contracted for any future films.  Therefore his definite return is not guaranteed. Sanders has also indicated that he was looking into other projects.


Deadline writes: 


"...unlike most first time directors, he doesn’t have to come back. That’s because Snow White And The Huntsman was sold in an auction by CAA that included a presentation by Sanders of how he was going to shoot the film. Sanders was part of the package, as was producer Joe Roth, and that gave the agency leverage to make a much better deal than a first timer usually gets."


"The filmmaker is in demand now, but he hasn’t chosen his next film and a sequel might well be it." 


Deadline has indicated that the actors have options for two sequels.  Therefore, getting the important parties back on board should not be too much of an issue.


The sequel, although fast tracked, will have the opportunity to fully develop the characters in a direction that  will be unknown and interesting to see since there will be no Snow White competition in the future. 


"The first film [SWATH] got rushed when Relativity Media hired Julia Roberts and pressed ahead with Mirror Mirror. Relativity burned its bridges with Universal to rush out a film that wasn’t worth it, and Universal also hurried its film." 


Koepp penned the recently released Men in Black III and is known for his work on Spiderman, Mission: Impossible, Jurassic Park, even Kristen Stewart's Panic Room and Zathura.