Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters got a big knock back on the release schedule when Paramount moved the 3D fantasy-action film from March 2, 2012 to January 11, 2013. The movie stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as the eponymous characters who are all growed up and looking for a little payback against the witch community. In an interview last December, Arterton said the flick was “as much Pulp Fiction as fairy tale.” The studio has been test-screening the picture, and it seems like they’re not sure what they have on their hands. According to recent reports from IMDb users, the studio is showing two versions of the film: one is R-Rated and the other is PG-13, and the R-rated cut is getting the positive feedback.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters also stars Famke Janssen and Peter Stormare.

The Lebanese Cinema Movie Guide recently came across a thread on IMDb where some users reported having attended various test screenings for the film (you signed an NDA, guys! You signed an NDAAAAAA!). According to RickCastle Writer:

I can’t say a lot because of agreements with the company, Overall I will say that I really enjoyed this one. It was different, violent, pretty funny- Sort of like Drive Angry 3D or Scott Pilgrim humor, and I thought everyone did well. It kind of felt like they nailed the ancient humor the way ‘Your Highness’ was supposed too but didn’t.

I went to the R-Rated version, I haven’t seen an PG-13 version and I didn’t even think they were cutting it up to be that, I hope they go back to the R Version because that was one hell of a fun movie. A PG-13 version would just ruin everything.

pyromaniac975 saw both versions:

The first one was definitely the Rated R version. Good humor, good action, great fight scenes, awesome dynamic between Renner and Arterton. I loved it so much the first time, I made a group of friends go to the second screening the next week. But the next week, they had heavily edited it and turned it into a PG-13 film.

If they keep it R, it’s gonna be great. Silly, but actiony and fun. If it’s PG13, it won’t be worth it. Let’s hope it’s an R rating.

Here’s a comment I didn’t expect:

“It was graphic and gory, I had to look away a couple of times because it was just gross.”

I haven’t seen either version so I’m not sure which cut would be better for the studio to see, but it sounds like the R-rated cut is the one that has gotten a far better response. If these responses turn out to be true, then Witch Hunters will definitely be on my radar. Then again, as user “douces” points out, why does a PG-13 cut eliminate the “Good humor, good action, great fight scenes, awesome dynamic between Renner and Arterton”? Hopefully, Paramount settles on a cut soon and we can get a look at this thing beyond the one image they released back in December 2011.

Source