There was a time when Universal's "Snow White and the Huntsman" and Relativity Media's "Mirror, Mirror" were joined at the hip, particularly as they lobbied for release dates, with "Mirror, Mirror" winning the earliest release date of them all. That "victory" led "Mirror, Mirror" director Tarsem Singh to tell EW last June that "fortunately or unfortunately, there really, truly is only room for the first one of these." Well, "Mirror, Mirror" has come and gone, leaving middling success and mostly abysmal reviews in its wake (we found it "remarkably forgettable"), while "Snow White and the Huntsman" is being viewed as a potential franchise, with Universal looking to lock up director Rupert Sanders for a potential sequel. Two new preview clips have arrived online for it, so while it was kind of laying low during the "The Avengers" promotional blitz, it seems they have finally decided to step up their efforts considering the success of the two films' shared star Chris Hemsworth.
To that end, the first clip features Hemsworth as the Huntsman swinging his axe at a giant troll, but all the heroics are actually performed by the movie's other star, Kristen Stewart, whose Snow White shows that sometimes a loud scream can do more to tame a wild beast than any edged weaponry.
For those wondering where that scene takes place in the original fairytale, this is where it's good to remember that "Snow White and Huntsman" isn't a strict adaptation. "Mirror, Mirror" was the more family-friendly and comedic version, while "Snow White and Huntsman" favors the a more fantasy-action approach emphasized in the second clip, which sees Charlize Theron as Queen Ravenna in a scene that looks dangerously close to the end of the film, with Snow White, the Huntsman, and Prince William (Sam Claflin) all fighting inside Revenna's castle and having to fight off her guards who are made of chunks of the ceiling.
So far, "Snow White and the Huntsman" has been an intriguing-looking project, and certainly looks miles better than "Mirror, Mirror" (with the exception of the first clip which looks and sounds like it was recorded on a cellphone inside an aquarium, but that won't be the same in the theater), but until June 1st, Singh's prognostication still holds true. [Collider/MTV]