While Relativity looks like it may have gotten the best of this casting day, Universal still has a leg up as they’ve already signed deals with Charlize Theron and Viggo Mortensen to star as the Evil Queen and The Huntsman in their film. Roberts is the first actress to sign on to Relativity’s film.
According to reports, Stewart was the first choice of Universal and director Rupert Sanders but they had been testing other actresses while Stewart decided whether she was interested in the role for her first post-TWILIGHT project.
As for Relativity, they were chasing Roberts since December trying to convince the choosy actress to sign on for a rare part in a genre film. Meanwhile they’ve been courting a coterie of younger actresses to star as Snow in their film. Earlier names included Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Anne Hathaway. But with Portman needing time off for her impending motherhood and Hathaway mostly booked up with THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, that leaves only Johansson as a possible candidate (it’s highly possible that they’ve moved on from her as well).
What should be most interesting is which one of these projects blinks first as it seems unlikely that two studios would spend money on big-budget remakes of a property and release them at similar times. At this point, which seems most interesting to you? Stewart, Theron and Mortensen? Or Julia Roberts and director Tarsem in 3D?