**Update: **According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hemsworth is now in official negotiations for the role. Bet the success of **Thor **helped a little...
Ever since Viggo Mortensen dropped out of negotiations to play the male lead in Snow White and the Huntsma****n, Universal and director Rupert Sanders have had a frustrating time finding someone else to fill the role. Hugh Jackman passed on the film, but now they may be closer to a possibility with Variety bringing word that Thor**’s Chris Hemsworth is a likely candidate.
The successful release of the superhero pic (outside the US, at least, since it doesn’t hit American cinemas until the end of this week) will no doubt work in Hemsworth’s favour.
In the film, the huntsman is ordered by the evil Queen (Charlize Theron) to slaughter the lovely Snow White (Kristen Stewart) because she’s jealous of the younger woman’s beauty. But the man instead decides to save Snow’s life and become her mentor, training her up to take care of herself so she doesn’t have to rely on anyone else. Even when she meets her eventual prince charming…
If Hemsworth is cast, it would likely mean a shift of the character into more of a romantic partner than just a fatherly figure, though there’s no guarantee that the actor will actually be able to take the role. While Asgard's arrogant warrior scion has been a success for him so far, the role is also a big part of The Avengers, which just kicked off shooting and might interfere with the plans to shoot Snow White later this year.
And he’s not the only viable candidate: Animal Kingdom/The Thing’s Joel Edgerton is also under serious consideration. Whoever the team – including producer Joe Roth – picks, they’ll have to get the thing moving to avoid being steamrollered by the Tarsem Singh Snow White pic that is already gearing up.