The classic fairy tale Hansel and Gretel is getting an updating which sees the eponymous duo all grown up and taking revenge on those that tried to harm them, in a modern spin entitled Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.
The new flick which is set to start shooting March 7th in Berlin, will see the story pick up some 15 years after their traumatic childhood incident with the siblings now witch bounty hunters.
Since last year, Jeremy Renner has been attached to the project to play Hansel however the role of Gretel had not been cast. Earlier this week it was confirmed that Gemma Arterton had indeed landed the part, their pairing should make for a good brother and sister witch hunting duo. It’s set to be a dark action movie that’s being directed by Norway’s Tommy Wirkola from his own screenplay.
Paramount is said to be moving production forward quickly with a release targeted for Halloween 2011, or early 2012 to get ahead of the much anticipated release of Fox’s adaptation of ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter‘, scheduled to open June 22nd, 2012.
Witch Hunters is being produced by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick under their Gary Sanchez Production banner. They picked up the project after writer/director Wirkola pitched the take on the classic fairy tale back in 2009. He made a splash with the Nazi zombie thriller, ‘Dead Snow’ which saw medical students go up against icy and undead members of the Third Reich.
Arterton is set to reprise her role in the sequel ‘Wrath of the Titans’ but will likely focus on Hansel and Gretel first, whereas Renner will go straight into the movie after completing ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’ then go on to ‘The Avengers’ movie.
Expect to see some hard core fairy tale violence in ‘Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters’, that would make the Brothers Grimm proud.
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