Universal Confirms that Kristen Stewart Wasn’t Dropped from Huntsman Sequel
Gossip bloggers sure know how to spin a story. All you read yesterday was that Kristen Stewart is getting dropped from the “Snow White and the Huntsman” sequel.
The immediate thoughts were that this is directly related to her indiscretions with the movie’s producer Rupert Sanders and that Universal pictures decided to keep Sanders over Stewart.
The truth of the matter is, she was never really on board. Universal is planning for the sequel to be centered on Chris Hemsworth character, the Huntsman instead of Snow white, but even that direction isn’t completely written in stone. In fact, Universal is not 100% sure that a sequel will even be made.
Back in May, Stewart herself explained that there were no plans and no contractual, “Twilight” type obligations. With Twilight the stars were signed to multi-movie deals, which is often the practice. Although it guarantees continuance of the franchise, it also puts pressure and locks an actor down for years, often preventing them to work on more interesting products. A trilogy can span over 10 years or more. Stewart said she would love to do a sequel back in May before the movie ever released; in doing so it was obvious that she was not officially part of any sequel plans. She told E!,
“I would do it in a heartbeat, I know with the people involved it would only be done [because] it’s very worthwhile and it’s a good movie. We wouldn’t just be cashing in.”
“We don’t have to do it, That’s the coolest thing. There’s no pressure. But to be able to expand on this would be awesome.”
About the same time this interview was given, she was probably playing tongue tag with Sanders so I’m sure she was eager to keep that up as long as she didn’t get caught.
After the spun stories bubbled up, Universal quickly released a statement to set the record straight,
“We are extremely proud of ‘Snow White And The Huntsman’ and we’re currently exploring all options to continue the franchise. Any reports that Kristen Stewart has been dropped are false.”
The bigger question is, should there even be a part 2? Is it really necessary? I think the $400 million that the first one pulled was a rare mixture of Hemsworth buzz, timing and luck – a mix that I highly doubt could be duplicated. With script writer David Koepp not being involved with the project, there are way more questions than answers at this time.
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