First Look: Rejected Pitch Art For Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters Sequel

Witch Hunters... no more.

Based on pitch art it appears Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) will be fighting an army of the undead in the sequel and the title of it might be, Hansel & Gretel: Death's Messengers.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters was a surprise hit for Paramount in 2013, grossing $226M at the global box office. However, 75% of that came from overseas. Nevertheless, the studio was happy with its performance and gave a green light to a sequel.

Tommy Wirkola, who wrote (along with Dante Harper) and directed the original, chose not to direct the sequel but he did pen its script. This left Paramount shopping for a new director. Last month, the studio eventually chose French director Bruno Aveillan to helm it, but before he was selected they brought in several candidates to pitch their take on Wirkola's script. And now we can see one of those pitches.

The pitch comes from Steven Ilous (2088, Polis), a visual effects (Matrix sequels, The Polar Express) supervisor-turned-director (short films and music videos).

"In 2015, I was sent the latest draft of the sequel to Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters for consideration to direct," Steven Ilous wrote on his official website. "Here at [a] glance is a small look into my director presentation which consisted of original character designs, key art, storyboards, animatics, and a maquette. I had such a great time working closely with Vincent Van Dyke from VVDFX, Bryan Wynia, Darek Zabrocki, Jonathan Gesinski, and the academy nominated Mike Elizalde from Spectral Motion. It was a great honor to be considered for this film."

Share your thoughts in the comment section below.