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Spoilers (1)
In the weeks following the Sony e-mail hacks, which made public thousands of privately circulated messages relating to the studio and its practices, it was revealed that Charlize Theron was to be paid substantially less to reprise her role in this film than her returning co-star, Chris Hemsworth. Theron, herself a proven box office draw, refused to sign on to the film unless Universal agreed to pay her the same salary as Hemsworth. The studio accepted her terms, and both Theron and Hemsworth were paid just over $10,000,000 each for the film.
Universal Pictures originally planned this film as a sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), but then dropped Kristen Stewart from the film. It was speculated that this was because of her widely reported affair with the previous film's director, Rupert Sanders. However, Universal's statement in August 2012 emphatically denied that Stewart had been dropped from the film because of any indiscretion, and that the studio was exploring all options: it was eventually decided that this film would instead be a prequel about the Huntsman rather than Snow White.
Jessica Chastain was contractually obligated to appear in this film, due to starring in a previous film also distributed by Universal, Crimson Peak (2015).
The first trailer of the film features the song "Castle" by Halsey.
The runic inscription briefly seen on the mirror in the first trailer reads, "I SEE", while the glimpse seen in the second trailer reads, "...IS POWER".
Chris Hemsworth who plays the Huntsman, is also famous for playing the Norse god Thor in the Marvel films. Emily Blunt's character is named Freya, which is also the name of a Norse goddess. Freya is associated with love, magic and death. According to legend, she was married to the god Od, who vanished one day. Freya searched the entire world to find him, gaining a new name in every land she passed through, but unable to find him again. The brokenhearted goddess cried tears which became gold, and her experience made her particularly sympathetic to lovers.
Like the 2014 film "300: Rise of an Empire", this film is both prequel and sequel and takes place before and after "Snow White and the Huntsman", as it details how The Huntsman became Huntsman and Ravenna's rise to power.
Chris Hemsworth plays Marvel hero Thor in the Thor films, as well as The Avengers series. Emily Blunt, who stars alongside Hemsworth in this film, was Marvel's first choice to play Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (2010), but she was forced to turn the role down due to a prior commitment to film Gulliver's Travels (2010) and the role eventually went to Scarlett Johansson instead.
Universal's director short list for this film consisted of Frank Darabont, Gavin O'Connor, and Andrés Muschietti. Darabont eventually signed on to the project, but decided against directing during pre-production. He did, however, initially remain on board as co-writer, before later being replaced entirely. Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, who worked as visual effects supervisor and second unit director on Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), was then hired to be the film's director, with Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin collaborating on the screenplay.
In the teaser trailer, producer Joe Roth is credited for producing Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Maleficent (2014), both of which are Disney films while The Huntsman films are actually produced by Universal.
Emily Blunt's make-up initially took two hours to apply.
The film was released a month before another film with war in the title "Captain America: Civil War", based on the Marvel comic. Chris Hemsworth played the Marvel comic hero Thor in "Thor", "The Avengers", "Thor: The Dark World", "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Thor: Ragnarok". Emily Blunt was the original choice for another Marvel comic hero Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, but turned it down and Scarlett Johansson was cast. Chris Hemsworth doesn't appear as Thor in "Captain America: Civil War".
Spoilers
Jessica Chastain's character Sara is mentioned in Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) as being the Huntsman's late wife, who is discovered to be alive but was thought to have been dead due to a Ice Queen deception.