Hansel-and-Gretel-Witch-Hunters-IMAX-PosterTommy Wirkola’s Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters sailed passed the $200m. at the international box office over the weekend. And coming off the back of its success, Paramount have officially announced that a sequel is in the works.

Deadline report that the film’s international box office numbers have been a key to the decision to move on with a sequel.

Released back in January in the US, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters opened in the top spot at the box office in the States. Its performance has been moderate-to-successful in the US, settling at just over $54m.

The film has taken more than three quarters of its revenue abroad, however, and the international figures have clearly impressed the studio enough to move ahead with the follow-up.

As of yet, it’s not known whether Wirkola will be back on board for the second film, after writing and directing this year’s original. We do know that Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and Kevin Messick are expected to return to produce, along with Beau Flynn.

Naturally, it’s early days yet, so there’s no timeline known for when the sequel might hit. But Paramount will likely want to be moving on this relatively quickly, and so I’d hazard a guess and suggest this will be arriving on our screens no later than 2015/16.

Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton are of course expected to reprise their titular roles, and it will be interesting to see who will be joining them for the second round. More as we get it.