Hugh Jackman Offered Lead Role in SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN

Looks like Hugh Jackman might be putting The Wolverine on the back burner for a while.

If you've been following the film news world over the past few months, you're probably aware of the dueling Snow White projects in development right now. Relativity Media has The Brothers Grimm: Snow White, with Armie Hammer as the prince, Lily Collins as Snow White, and Julia Roberts set as the evil queen. Universal's similar project is called Snow White and the Huntsman, and so far they've locked Kristen Stewart as the fair-skinned title role and Charlize Theron as their own evil queen, but the Huntsman role is still vacant.

Until recently, Viggo Mortensen was set to play the Huntsman part, but he dropped out due to conflicting ideas about the film's direction; Mortensen was also rumored to be up for a villain role in Zack Snyder's Superman opposite Henry Cavill. Now, Universal has offered the role to Hugh Jackman. After Darren Aronofsky's abrupt abandonment of Jackman's passion project The Wolverine, that film has been left without a director. Plus, the disaster in Japan doesn't bode well for the plans to film a majority of Logan's saga in that country. So with the possible delay in production, the studio figures they may be able to lock Jackman in for Snow White and the Huntsman for a September start date, giving him time to return to The Wolverine afterwards.

It's not exactly an inspired choice - we all know Jackman could play this part with his eyes closed - but it may be a stepping stone the actor needs to fill some space. More importantly for the studio, he would be a recognizable face for audiences and a reason to see another Snow White film after Relativity's movie hits theaters earlier that year. In any case, it provides at least some interest for me personally; I like Jackman quite a bit and think his presence would be enough to counteract Stewart's for me. We should also make clear that this is just an offer, and as of right now, Jackman has not accepted the role.

But what do you think? Does having Hugh Jackman as the Huntsman give you any more interest in this project? Tarsem's (The Fall, The Cell, Immortals) The Brothers Grimm: Snow White arrives in theaters on June 29th, 2012, while first-time director Rupert Sanders' Snow White and the Huntsman won't hit until December 21st, 2012.