Snow White and the Huntsman may have been a moderate hit this summer, though it was probably not the huge success Universal was hoping for. That, along with the picture’s critical lashing, hasn’t stopped the studio from wanting to stay in the Rupert Sanders‘ business, a.k.a dull and overly serious action pictures. Word is Sanders may be brought in to helm the Tom Cruise-starring Van Helsing reboot, which is expected to have a more “modern” approach.
With writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman involved, modern usually just means really, really safe. You can always expect some goofiness with those two, but if Sanders does indeed take on the project, I’m sure he’ll see no place for that kind of fun. The strange thing is, when you have someone as charismatic as Tom Cruise in the lead, why hire a director who probably won’t capitalize on that charisma?
Perhaps this is a close-minded take on Sanders as a director, but it’s clear the studio wants what he brought to Snow White, which was not much more than pretty, empty shots. [Twitch]