Star Interview

Tommy Wirkola talks about Hansel & Gretel

I imagine you must be feeling pretty good right now, after last weekend 

 

Yeah! I do. It’s actually down in Australia now. We attended the premiere here as well, and yeah, we’re really happy 

with how it’s performed so far. It did well in the U.S., it also really well overseas so far. So it’s been exciting 

so far.

 

 

Were you nervous about how it was going to do? Obviously you had big stars, but it’s been a little difficult selling 

this genre to American audiences?

 

 

Yeah, yeah, of course. Yeah, you’re really nervous about that kind of stuff because it’s out of your control. 

It’s up to the audience if they embrace it or not. So yeah, it was nerve-racking the week leading up to it, but it’s 

good that we succeeded in what we aimed for.

 

 

Did you develop this from the start, or what was your first introduction to Hansel & Gretel as a potential project?

 

It was my favorite fairy tale growing up. I had it on one of those old cassette tapes that I used to listen to when 

I was very young. It was very scary, dark and twisted. People forget how gory and scary those original stories are. 

The story just leaves those two characters in such a great place. It kind of stayed in the back of my head, I guess. 

I did a few films in Norway, and I had this idea… I can’t remember exactly when I got it, but I remember the first time 

I pitched it to somebody. It was in school. I actually studied in Australia, and we had a pitching class where the 

teacher pretends to be a Hollywood producer and you have one minute to go up and woo him. And I pitched my idea. I said 

it was basically Hansel & Gretel, fifteen years later, and they’ve grown up to be bounty hunters for witches. And my 

teacher said to me, “Tommy, don’t ever speak of this idea again until you’re in front of a Hollywood producer, 

and I guarantee you will sell it.” It was good teacher advice. So I kept my mouth shut for I think, six or seven years 

ago now. I did a few movies in Norway. I did Dead Snow and that got picked for Sundance, and got me into meetings. 

The first meeting, the first day, I tried it and they went for it.

 

 

Was the tone part of it? Because it’s very comical in a lot of respects about the historical anachronisms, 

and I imagine some executives might get nervous about that

 

 

Yeah, that was always in my pitch when I pitched to the studio, because I loved movies growing up that mixed tones. 

I love [Sam] Raimi and Peter Jackson, and how they mixed extreme gore with action and humor, and that was always what 

I wanted to do. And I wanted to make it R-rated, with they always supported, and the modern elements were a part of that. 

One thing, it gives it a timeless feel. I didn’t want anyone to be able to pinpoint and say, “Alright, this movie 

is set… then.” But I thought it would lend itself to the tone. I thought it would actually add to the fun that we’re 

trying to have with this film.

 

 

At what point did steampunk become a part of that?

 

Yeah, again, it’s part of that modern element that I wanted in there. I just wanted this crazy, mashed-up world where 

you can’t pinpoint where it is, or when it is. We wanted the modern elements in there because we thought they would add 

to the fun and tone of the film, and even though we have these modern elements we always make sure that they look like 

could belong from hundreds of years ago, but… I don’t know, I just always thought it would be a fun world, and help the 

tone that I was trying to pull off with the film.

 

 

You said that Hansel’s the one who gets a romantic subplot, but I don’t know. I sensed a little chemistry between 

Gretel and the troll…

 

 

[Laughs] Yeah, there’s a little thing going on there. A little beauty and the beast story in there with them. He was 

always meant to be our Chewbacca, I guess. That huge beast of a character who you feel could explode any minute, 

but he’s got a heart of gold deep underneath. Yeah, she connects with him for sure in the film.

 

 

I really do like the overall look of this film. It does feel very practical. It almost feels like a Monty Python movie 

in some ways. Very practical, lived in, a lot of humor in the details. What were some of your influences in creating the 

world of Hansel & Gretel?

 

 

This is what I like to do. I’m from Norway, and making movies in Norway that’s just how you have to do things. You can’t 

afford to CGI to help you out of every situation. I do think CGI is overused in cinema today. For me, obviously there’s 

some fantastic CGI work being done, but I think we rely on it too much. For me it’s just too perfect and clean and glossy 

at times. I really wanted a gritty and real feel, and hopefully it paid off.

 

 

Without giving anything away, I feel like there’s sequel potential. Have you thought about that? Has there been any talk?

 

We haven’t really thought about it. I didn’t think about it when I wrote it, and when I directed it and cut it. It was 

never… I mean, obviously you think it could be a fun world to go into, and do more with, but it’s all in the hands of 

the audience now. We’ll see how it does, and maybe we can go back in there, but it’s still too early to tell.

 

 

About that post process. The film is a very lean 88 minutes. Is there going to be a longer director’s cut out there 

somewhere, or is this exactly what you wanted?

 

We decided always to we wanted a really fast-paced, fun, energetic ride. Of course there will be an extended version, 

an extreme version. There will be more guts and blood and gore, stuff that didn’t make the cut. It will be even crazier 

probably, but this was a cut we wanted because it’s all about balance. We wanted to try to reach as many people as we can, 

but still keep the edge and what we wanted to do with the film. But yeah, there will be a longer version, and the short 

film maybe.

 

Are you working on anything right now, for a follow-up?

 

 

I’ve been developing another thing with Gary Sanchez Productions. I’m writing a new thing for Paramount, but I’m also 

hoping to do Dead Snow 2 pretty soon. So we’ll see what happens first. We’ll see where we get the money. It’s all about 

juggling twenty things in the air, and what happens first. But yeah, I really want to get back directing again. It’s a 

long, slow post process on [Hansel & Gretel], so hopefully I can get started on something soon