Word of this movie comes out of EFM.  HanWay Films is said to be backing this project which stars Banks as a family psychotherapist and Stewart as her Muse.  Andrew Lazar’s Mad Chance is producing with Richard Middleton and Christina Lurie executive producing.

Today’s story follows reports that Universal has recently decided to keep Stewart in the fold for the next Snow White and the Huntsman film.  While there have not been many updates on that front, her optimism for a return to the franchise overshadows earlier pessimism that they might go another way at Universal particularly since her very public affair with director Rupert Sanders.  In other words, that all appears to be water under the bridge and it is now ‘back to work’ for the Twilight star.

This still does not change the fact that Rupert Sanders could be out of the director’s chair after he successfully launched this property on a shortened time table.  That said, we definitely want to hear more especially in regards to the casting of the film’s central antagonist before we call it a win.

Snow White and the Huntsman starred Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, and Sam Claflin.  The film launched in June and rode a $56.2 million three-day opening to $396 million worldwide on a budget of $170 million.

On the Road hits select theaters on December 21.

As for the former, that might be a problem having to do with her very public affair with director Rupert Sanders.  While we completely believe she will manage to find work sometime down the road, there is the elephant in the room that those behind-the-scenes have wives who would be none to thrilled at the prospects of their husbands working closely with Stewart.  It may sound like a silly way to think about it, but it might have just been responsible for cleaving half of her prospective offers.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 releases in theaters nationwide tomorrow.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part II lands in theaters nationwide on November 16.

The Twilight Sage: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 releases into theaters nationwide on November 16th.

Directed by Bill Condon, the film stars Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Peter Facinelli, Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Jackson Rathbone, Elizabeth Reaser, Nikki Reed, Billy Burke, Rami Malek, and Maggie Grace.  The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part II hits theaters nationwide on November 16.

Stars of the film include Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Kirsten Dunst, Steve Buscemi, Elisabeth Moss, and Terrence Howard.  The domestic launch for On the Road is scheduled for December 21.

The trade publication believes that the $10 million plus 5% back-end Stewart would garner from a sequel is enough to say no to; however, there are also clear marketing concerns (even before Stewart’s affair with director Rupert Sanders) that makes her pretty much underwhelming force in the property.  Research apparently showed that Hemsworth was appealing enough to both men and women to anchor the film on its own and Stewart may have actually worked against the franchise’s launch as she is considered to be a polarizing figure with her core audience not unlike Shia LaBeouf.

Furthermore, they believe that Universal is deliberately covering this up despite the clear-as-day facts.  THR lays out a convincing argument built on the knowledge that plans to bring since ousted writer David Koepp on originated at a time when the studio believed they would do two films with Stewart before spinning off.  That is right.  The original setup was to spin Hemsworth’s Huntsman character off anyways which is something that we heard about before the release of Snow White and the Huntsman in June.

Ultimately, it would seem that Universal’s actions have little to do with current events.  What is normally business as usual for them has since be contorted into another piece of tabloid news fodder, so until the time when things die down and nobody cares anymore, the studio’s response will be ‘deny deny deny’ especially when this information leaks before notifying Stewart’s reps that she is being pushed out the door.  Ouch.

Rumors started to surface well before the launch of Snow White and the Huntsman that Chris Hemsworth’s Huntsman character would be taking center stage in any such sequel offering.  The Thor actor was a major draw in the production and many consider his presence responsible for a startling 50/50 gender split with the film’s audience that many thought would be impossible given the source material.  Hemsworth is optioned up for an undisclosed number of films in the franchise, so he undoubtedly will be returning.

THR reports that there is doubt in the return of Rupert Sanders though as the  commercial director-turned-filmmaker may be a controversial choice for the chair.  The studio may choose to distance themselves from Stewart going forward and that might even mean ditching a fantastic director who is accredited with giving Snow White and the Huntsman its highly appealing visual flair.  After receiving fairly decent reviews despite a rushed production schedule, many expected Sanders to be a lock to return.

In regards to David Koepp who was hired to write the series’ second outing, he is now gone.  Even though he is one of the most highly sought after scribes in the industry and his coming aboard was huge, Universal is opting to go a different direction than what they originally hired the man to write meaning that this change of format likely came following more recent events and not before them.  An interesting, but unverified revelation for sure.

Do be warned that this might have killed the franchise.  Universal did make money on Snow White and the Huntsman; however, such an overhaul sounds like the type to send a franchise sequel into ‘developmental hell.’  The point?  The movie just became a whole lot less likely to ever see the light of day.  If it does end up happening, shooting will not begin until July 2013 as Chris Hemsworth has a production slate that includes Thor: The Dark World and Steven Spielberg’s Robopocalypse–two big projects that might take some time to complete.

Update 8/15: Some added information needs to be mentioned since this news first broke.  Other publications have been trying to get validation from Universal on the story that THR ran to which the reps responded ‘no decisions have been finalized’ or something to that effect.  That said, I would say it is completely safe to buy into this original story with the added sentiment that if the retooled concept did fail, they would consider going back to the old format.

I am also seeing varying disagreement on whether or not the film’s stars are optioned up for another film and I have read from several trades that they are, but at the same time witnessed an interview Kristen Stewart gave where she said they did not have to do a sequel if they did not feel it would be right to do so.  That of course suggests that no such option (on her at least) existed.

Ultimately, it looks incredibly likely that while she might not have had the option, Chris Hemsworth did mostly because Stewart cost more.  When you are already paying a hefty price for someone, locking them in for sequel efforts becomes less of a priority and Stewart regularly commands $10 million per picture.

Update #2:  Universal Co-Chairman Donna Langley has released the following statement:

“We are extremely proud of Snow White and the Huntsman and we’re currently exploring all options to continue the franchise. Any reports that Kristen Stewart has been dropped are false.”