'Gretel and Hansel': Release date, plot, cast, trailer and everything else about the fairytale thriller
'Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters' starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton was a blockbuster when it hit the silver screens in 2013. It earned over $250 million worldwide against a $50 million budget. A sequel that was supposed to be in the works never materialized, neither did the TV series.
But in what comes as a pleasant surprise to the fans, Orion Pictures' dark reimagined version of Gretel and Hansel, the classic Grimm brothers fairy tale is all set for a 2020 release. Here's everything we know about the film so far.
Release:
The movie is slated for release on January 31, 2020.
Plot:
According to THR, the story focuses on a young girl who leads her little brother into the dark woods in search of food and water, only to stumble upon a frighteningly evil nexus. The film will adapt a horror approach as opposed to the Renner-Arterton's action and darky comedy starrer.
Cast:
The movie stars Sophia Lillis, who garnered worldwide acclaim with the hit 2017 Stephen King adaptation 'It'. It also sees newcomer Sammy Leakey, 'Star Trek: First Contact's Alice Krige, 'Arrow's Jessica De Gouw and 'Black Mirror's Charles Babalola.
Writer/Director:
Brian Kavanaugh-Jones ('Sinister') and Fred Berger ('La La Land') will produce the film with executive producer Sandra Yee Ling on board. Osgood Perkins will helm the film, while Rob Hayes is the writer.
Trailer:
The trailer for ‘Gretel & Hansel’ dropped Thursday and it looks so much eerier than the original cautionary folktale made for kids. While the trailer offers little in terms of plot points, it has an atmospherically creepy vibe to it, somewhat reminiscent of Robert Eggers’ 2015 supernatural period horror film ‘The VVitch’.
Krige, as the witch Holda, is particularly a terrifying watch. A small sequence in the trailer sees her pull a full strand of hair out of her mouth, and it is unnerving at best. The trailer is also much more bloody than anyone could have imagined -- especially a scene with Gretel (Sophia Lillis) slowly peeling a bloody sheet off corpses.
Suffice to say, if the trailer is anything to go by, ‘Gretel & Hansel’ will be an unsettling watch, full of creeps and scares that will make any and all children forever stay away from strangers offering them confectionary.