Snow White and the Huntsman 2

The Huntsman: Winter’s War is a prequel, a sequel, a spinoff, a mashup, a bit of a remake, and almost a movie. It contains many recognizable elements from actual films — plot, characters, scenes, imagery, music — almost all of them inspired by (if not outright stolen from) other far more original movies and television shows. There are bits and pieces shamelessly swiped from Frozen, Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, plus a few odds and ends from the production it is ostensibly following, 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman. It’s almost like the movie version of a pod person from Invasion of the Body Snatchers; superficially indistinguishable from the real thing, but lacking any semblance of a soul.

In the tradition of ScreenCrush series like You Think You Know Movies and You Think You Know TV comes a new YouTube series: Top Five! Each week (or so; we’ve got a lot of other stuff going on), ScreenCrush editor and critic Matt Singer will count down a particular topic from the world of movies (and probably write these introductory posts in the third person).

There are ordinary, everyday ripoffs and there are thefts so bold they’re almost impressive in the degree of their thievery. What I admire about The Huntsman: Winter’s War, the sorta-prequel to 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman, is that very shamelessness. They basically swapped out Snow White (she’s a baby here; she grew up to be Kristen Stewart in the first movie) for Elsa from Frozen. They’re not even pretending. They just want all the little girls who loved Frozen and are now three years older to come check out this movie.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, what Snow White sequel is the least Snow White-y of them all?

For those eager to return to the darkly whimsical world of 'Snow White and the Huntsman,' we have good news: Universal has given 'Snow White and the Huntsman 2' a release date. But that's not all, the upcoming sequel to the 2012 film also has an official, shorter title, ditching Snow White altogether.

A few weeks back, the shortlist of directors up for 'Snow White and the Huntsman 2' was made public and it looks like Universal has now made their choice: Frank Darabont, best known for the much beloved 'The Shawshank Redemption,' is currently in talks to helm the film.

The Marvel and 'Star Wars' movie universes have been busy lining up and sorting out directors, but there's another potentially interesting major project that's looking to put a name in the director's chair: Universal is currently seeking a director for 'Snow White and the Huntsman 2,' and the names on their shortlist are intriguing.

Chris Hemsworth is a busy man. In addition to being the Marvel movie universe's Thor, the Australian actor has been promoting the upcoming Ron Howard drama 'Rush,' which sees him stepping into the role of Formula One racer James Hunt. However, no interview with Mr. Hemsworth could be complete without asking him about 'The Avengers: Age of Ultron,' but the God of Thunder himself can't spill any det

Apparently it takes three films to tell the story of Snow White, so not only is 'Snow White and the Huntsman' getting a sequel, it might also getting a third installment to make it a complete trilogy.

Universal has announced they're making a sequel to 'Snow White and the Huntsman,' which means that either the first film was a sneaky success, or that studios are desperate for sequels. Regardless, the 2012 fantasy film's sequel is officially on the way, with plans to release it in 2015.