More Witch Hunting: "Hansel & Gretel" Sequel in Development

"Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" may have opened to mixed reviews and disappointed hopes for U.S. box office numbers (it made $54 million in the U.S.), but the sequel to the revamped, gory fairytale is being developed for Paramount and MGM. According to Deadline, news of the sequel arrived on the day that the film's earnings crossed the $200 million mark earlier this week.

The film was adapted from one of the thousands of Brothers Grimm cautionary tales intended to terrify children. In the original fairytale, young siblings Hansel and Gretel get separated from their family in the woods, and are lured to an evil witch's home with enticing sweets. She then locks them up and plans on fattening them up for a big, cannibalistic feast. The kids end up outsmarting the old witch and escaping.

In the action-packed "Witch Hunters," Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton play the once-victimized siblings, who are now all grown up and hell bent on vengeance. Producers Adam McKay, Will Ferrell and Kevin Messick are expected to be involved in developing the sequel.