Short but sweet (?) announcement here: Paramount Pictures has just confirmed HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS 2 will be coming in 2016. The revelation was made by Paramount Pictures International svp Edward Ryan at CineEurope in Spain.
There are no details beyond that, and it remains to be seen if the first film’s director Tommy Wirkola will return to helm. It’s pretty much assumed that stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton signed for multiple sequels when they first became attached to the horror-fantasy.
This isn’t as big of a surprise as you might initially think: HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS did respectable but not overwhelming business at the box office: $226 million worldwide, and that’s not including Blu-ray/DVD sales. However, its budget was reportedly only $50 million, meaning it did indeed make a profit. In this business, that’s all that matters.
Gemma Arterton