Actor Chris Hemsworth rose to newfound levels of fame with Marvel’s Thor over the past few weekends as the superhero feature rolled out across the globe to good reviews and a strong box-office take. Now he’s officially taken on the role of the male protagonist in Snow White and the Huntsman opposite Kristen Stewart of Twilight fame.
Deadline broke this news late last week and Monday published a press release from Universal stating the studio has moved the film's release date forward six months to June 1, 2012, just four weeks ahead of Realtivity Media's The Brother's Grimm: Snow White.
Hemsworth entered negotiations for the part sometime after Thor opened internationally but shortly before the feature opened in the States. The part had previously been offered to Johnny Depp, Viggo Mortensen and Hugh Jackman, all of whom are significantly older than Hemsworth. It will be interesting to see how this affects the script at all. Here is a summary via the Universal press release:
"In Snow White and the Huntsman, Stewart plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen (Charlize Theron) who is out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the one girl threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman (Hemsworth) who was dispatched to kill her. Sam Claflin plays the prince long enchanted by Snow White's beauty and power."
The move to go toe-to-toe with The Brother's Grimm: Snow White signifies a bold one to say the least. It will be interesting to see if Relativity flinches on the release date for Tarsem Singh's (Immortals) take starring Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, Armie Hammer and Nathan Lane set to begin filming in August and due on June 29, 2012.
"Huntsman" had no previous start date, but expect it to be around August or thereabouts as soon as Hemsworth is done with his work on The Avengers. This makes the job of "Huntsman" director Rupert Sanders, who has no big-budget film experience, a lot tougher as he now has just over a year to churn out the film.