Universal Pictures is looking at a pretty profitable year in 2016. In addition to Ride Along 2, Warcraft, The Best Man Wedding, Bourne 5 and Skull Island, the studio has just added a high-profile prequel to its lineup, simultaneously bumping another big-budget reboot back two months. Let’s take the prequel first, then the reboot.
Tody, the studio unveiled Snow White and the Huntsman follow-up The Huntsman, which will count out Kristen Stewart to instead tell the story of how the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) first encountered villainous Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron). Frank Darabont is set to direct the prequel, which was formerly known as Snow White and the Huntsman 2. It has been dated for April 22nd, 2016.
The film previously slotted for that date, Alex Kurtzman’s remake of The Mummy, has been shifted by two months to June 24th, 2016. Jon Spaihts (Doctor Strange) will be penning the script, about which details are currently scarce. It’s said to take place in modern times and be more in the vein of Raiders of the Lost Ark than previous, scarier outings for the Mummy.
Both films are currently uncontested in their release dates, though The Huntsman arrives one week after The Best Man Wedding, while The Mummy is in between Independence Day 2, The BFG and Finding Dory.
Tell us, are you excited to hear that either of these films are on their way? Will the Snow White follow-up be acceptable without a trace of Snow White? And is Kurtzman a risky choice to bring back The Mummy, or do you trust that he’ll get the job done?