Rupert Sanders will not direct Snow White sequel

I don't know how reliable this is just yet but I figured it was worthy of mentioning.

Rupert Sanders, the director of Snow White and the Huntsman, apparently will not be returning for the sequel according to Cinema Blend. Snow White served as Sanders' directorial debut and was a fairly big box office hit taking in over $400 million worldwide and subsequently had a sequel approved by Universal within a few weeks of the release.
However, Sanders' success was tampered after photos surfaced of him cheating on his wife, Liberty Ross, with his lead female star Kristen Stewart. Both parties apologized and it was a big mess all summer long. BUT... despite the cheating scandal it appeared that Sanders was still set to direct the sequel and Kristen Stewart was the one kicked to the curb. The source for Cinema Blend claims that Sanders has withdrawn from the project in a continued attempt to save his marriage. It also is plausible that he dropped the Snow White sequel due to other offers. It is rumored that Universal is considering him to helm the upcoming reboot of Van Helsing starring Tom Cruise. He also landed the director's chair for the upcoming film The Juliet by Sony Pictures. Seeing that he is being offered work by not only Universal is a sign that the scandal hasn't ruined his career or his chance at the Snow White sequel. I personally think he realizing he has better things to do. Not to mention if he returned for the sequel the press tour would no doubt be flooded with questions about the scandal.

Along with this is it also being reported that Kristen Stewart might, or is, returning for the Snow White sequel after all so this is all a big mess. I personally wouldn't etch anything in stone regarding the upcoming sequel until official press releases from Universal are made. I bet the Stewart rumors are surfacing just because Twilight is finally over and because Rupert Sanders is officially out of the picture.


Personally... I would like Stewart to return simply because I was looking forward to the storyline of her as the Queen, but who knows how it will play out. If the sequel is purely a Huntsman spinoff like Universal was saying after the cheating scandal broke out I probably won't be too interested in it. That is a cop out, imo.