"Hansel & Gretel" reworked as comedy-horror tale
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - How do you follow the wicked joy of zombie Nazis attacking medical students on a ski vacation?
Tommy Wirkola has an idea: "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters."
The Norwegian co-writer/director of the horror comedy "Dead Snow," a Sundance selection that IFC Films picked up for release in June, is putting together his next cockeyed picture.
Wirkola pitched Will Ferrell's production company on the idea of exploring how things played out for the poor siblings 15 years after that whole gingerbread house incident.
Simply put, they're now specialized bounty hunters looking to put down the cackling black-hat set.
Ferrell and his Gary Sanchez Prods. partner Adam McKay jumped at the idea of bringing a "Shaun of the Dead"/"Evil Dead 2" comedy action vibe to the proceedings.
"The idea is, they've grown up and they hunt witches," McKay said. "It's a hybrid sort of old-timey feeling, yet there's pump-action shotguns. Modern technology but in an old style. We heard it and we were just like, 'That's a freakin' franchise! You could make three of those!'"
(Editing by Dean Gooodman at Reuters)
