The Huntsman: Winter's War is a 2016 American fantasy action-adventure film and both a prequel and sequel to Snow White & the Huntsman (2012). As the directorial debut of Cedric Nicolas-Troyan it takes place before and after the events of the first film. The screenplay was written by Craig Mazin and Evan Spiliotopoulos and is based on characters created by Evan Daugherty. Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Nick Frost and Sam Claflin reprised their roles from the first film; the sequel also introduced new characters played by Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain and Rob Brydon. The Huntsman: Winter's War premiered in Hamburg March 2016 and was released in the United States in April 2016, by Universal Pictures. The film has received generally unfavorable reviews from critics, with praise for the visuals and cast but many feeling the film was unnecessary. It grossed $165 million worldwide against an estimated $115 million production budget.