No White And The Huntsman: Kristen Stewart Out Of Sequel

A couple of weeks back some dumb shit happened in the world of the media. It turns out that Kristen Stewart was having an affair with Rupert Sanders, the director of Snow White And the Huntsman. Who cares, right? I could tell you guys some gossip that would blow your minds, about what director slept with who and who cheats on who and who beats up hookers for fun. But who cares? That's for talks over drinks, not for coverage in the media, and anyone who writes about that stuff for a living is a cancer on humanity.

But anyway, this got out there and there was scandal and outcry and everybody suddenly gave a SUPER SERIOUS SHIT about KStew's relationship with Robert Pattinson, even though a lot of people thought she had been his beard. KStew had to do an apology thing, like she was a politician or a person whose actions in any conceivable way impact the rest of us, and then she sort of disappeared.

So what, right? Well, The Hollywood Reporter is Hollywood reporting that Universal has decided to dump KStew from her own franchise. Snow White and the Huntsman was successful enough (financially, anyway) that a sequel is feasible, but the studio is going to make it just And The Huntsman. They're calling it a spin-off, but it's really a "We don't want to deal with the fallout of this whole scandal" move. A kind of chickenshit one, at that.

Why chickenshit? Because THR's sources indicate that Sanders is still attached. Yes, the director who has a wife and kids and cheated with his leading lady gets to come back, but the leading lady is kicked to the curb. 

This is complicated for me. I think that Kristen Stewart is a good actress in the right roles and Snow White was not the right role. I'm not necessarily sorry to see her go. And I understand that the public will identify her with the scandal, not the director. Nobody knows who the fuck the director is. But isn't this a weird decision? The man, who has a family, does not get punished. The woman does. That sort of smells like, I don't know, sexism to me. 

Also troubling on that tip: the idea that Universal is like 'Oh, fuck the female market. We are just going all boys this time.' Because that's essentially what happens when you make And The Huntsman. Yeah, Chris Hemsworth will bring in the ladies (see Marvel's entire strategy of making boy movies with beefcake leads - this is a smart way of making movies), but will those ladies be getting a kick-ass woman who is his equal? I mean, I'm sure there will be a love interest who also swings a sword - this is now the formula - but it's his movie. The message: girls, you can be in these movies, but men are the leads.

Hey, maybe this is for the best. I was not a huge fan of Snow White and the Huntsman, and I thought that Hemsworth was one of the film's bright spots. But if Universal is going to get all morality clause on us, dump the director too. Bring in new blood. And maybe consider making this one Rose Red and the Hunstman - you know, with the sister of Snow White (yes, I know Rose Red is the sister of a different Snow White, but it isn't like the first film was a firm bit of fidelity).

UPDATE: 

It's worth noting that in APRIL, before the movie came out and before the scandal, Universal's Ron Meyer was paraphrased by The Hollywood Reporter saying:

Meyer said that while the upcoming Snow White and the Huntsman doesn’t appear to lend itself to a sequel, Universal thinks it can do more movies based on the character of the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) if it is successful.

Two things: the movie ends with a semi-cliffhanger intended to continue the Snow White/Prince Charming/Huntsman love triangle, and David Koepp was hired to write a sequel to the movie, not a spin-off. So while there was talk of a 'spin-off' in April, the actual movie seems intended to be open for sequels - as shown by David Koepp coming aboard.