R-Rating Confirmed for HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS Starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is Paramount Pictures' upcoming dark take on the classic folktale. The story picks up where the old fairy tale left off: Years after the traumatic childhood incident with the witch's gingerbread house in the woods, the two siblings have become bounty hunters who track down witches.

It was recently reported that Paramount was quietly test screening two different cuts of the film -- a hard R-rated version and a sillier PG-13 one -- to gauge audience reaction before settling on a final cut. Now word has come out that the film will definitively be released with an R-rating.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is directed by Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow) and stars Jeremy Renner (The Avengers), Gemma Arterton (Prince of Persia) and Famke Janssen (X-Men Trilogy) and Peter Stormare (The Big Lebowski). Originally scheduled to hit theaters on March 2nd, 2012, it has since been delayed until January 2013; supposedly for 3D post-conversion. Aside the the official image to the right no other promotional items for the film have been released.