‘Walking Dead’ creator Frank Darabont circling ‘The Huntsman’ spinoff

Frank Darabont, creator of AMC’s hit zombie series “The Walking Dead,” is in talks to direct a follow-up to “Snow White and the Huntsman” — minus Snow White, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The sequel to Universal’s 2012 dark fantasy would focus on the Huntsman character, played by “Thor” and “Avengers” alum Chris Hemsworth. Kristen Stewart, who played the lead role of Snow White in the original film, is not expected to return in the sequel, though it’s possible she could make a cameo.

Darabont, whose films as a director include “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Mist,” would pick up the franchise reins from Rupert Sanders. The director is making a return to features after leaving “Dead” several years ago in the wake of a rift with AMC over the zombie show. He also was behind the short-lived cable series “Mob City” this past season.

“Snow White and the Huntsman” received mixed reviews but was a solid performer at the box office when it came out, grossing $396 million worldwide.

Prospects of a follow-up were initially complicated when, weeks after the first film hit theaters, Stewart and Sanders became embroiled in a tabloid scandal as photos surfaced of them having a tryst (Stewart was dating “Twilight” costar Robert Pattinson and Sanders was married to model Liberty Ross).

A Huntsman-centric movie would continue the trend of big-budget franchises spawning spinoff properties. Other examples include the “Wolverine” movies based on the “X-Men” series, the planned “Venom” and “Sinister Six” movies based on “The Amazing Spider-Man” series and the planned “Star Wars” standalone movies separate from the central story line.

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