Snow White may be out of the picture, but “The Huntsman” is ready to return in 2016.
The prequel will take place before 2012″s “Snow White and the Huntsman” and will reveal how Eric (Chris Hemsworth) and Ravenna (Charlize Theron) first crossed paths. Kristen Stewart, who played Snow White in the first film, won't be returning.
Universal has announced that “The Huntsman” will open April 22, 2016, which will push the studio's reboot of “The Mummy” to Jun 24 of that year.
For the prequel, “Snow White” director Rupert Sanders is being replaced by Frank Darabont, the Oscar-nominated helmer of “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile,” who was also the original showrunner on “The Walking Dead.”
Darabont is also re-writing the screenplay, originally written by Craig Mazin and Evan Spiliotopoulos. Joe Roth (“Maleficent,” “Alice in Wonderland”) will once again produce.
Summer 2016 is filling up fast, although there are no other major films yet scheduled for the weekend of April 22.
“The Best Man Wedding” is slated for April 15, 2016, while May 6 will see a superhero showdown between “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Captain America 3” (unless one of the films backs down). There are also several other tentpole films which are likely to hit theaters in the spring and summer of 2016, but don't yet have release dates. They include “G.I. Joe 3,” “Star Trek 3,” and the potential “Ghostbusters” reboot.