The Huntsman: Winter’s War Could Cost Studio $70 Million In Losses

Ben Arnold
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‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’ could cost its studio as much as $70 million (£48 million) in losses, according to industry reports.

The movie, a sequel to 2012’s 'Snow White And The Huntsman’, has proved something of a box office disaster for Universal, making just $20 million (£13.6 million) on its opening weekend in the US.

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Though it’s done better overseas, making $79 million (£54 million) so far, it’s said to be miles off its targets for recouping the budget of $115 million (£78 million), plus the massive marketing and promotional costs involved.

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It’s now estimated that those losses could reach $70 million, and the fact that critics have also hammered it won’t be helping matters either.

It currently has a lowly 16% 'fresh’ rating on reviews aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with Time Out’s Cath Clarke saying it 'feels like a Russian oligarch has thrown a 'Game of Thrones’ party and hired his favourite Hollywood actors to come in fancy dress’.

Peter Travers in Rolling Stone added: “The script lifts so much plot from Disney’s animated Frozen that it could qualify as a remake. No one sings 'Let It Go’, but my advice to audiences is to do just that.”

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One analyst, Eric Handler from MKM Partners, told Variety: “The movie wasn’t very good. Emily Blunt, Charlize Theron, and Chris Hemsworth are all good actors, but you don’t have anyone who is really a bankable lead.”

So far, though luckily much cheaper than 'Snow White and the Huntsman’, which cost a massive $170 million (£116 million), it’s made half as much as its predecessor.

Production was turbulent too, with former 'Walking Dead’ and 'Shawshank’ director Frank Darabont quitting in 2015 over creative differences.

The first film’s visual effects supervisor Cedric Nicolas-Troyan then took over, his first feature in the director’s chair.

It’s out now across the UK.

Image credits: Universal

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