While they still search for a guy to play the title male role-- last we heard Chris Hemsworth was the frontrunner-- Universal has set a handsome prince for Snow White and the Huntsman. According to Deadline the role has gone to Sam Claflin, the 24-year-old actor who appears as the fresh-faced youth in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and also has a role in the upcoming fantasy effort The Seventh Son, opposite Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

As the title probably indicates, this spin on the Snow White tale focuses more on the relationship between the princess and the huntsman, who in the original fairy tale is charged with taking her into the woods and killing her. In this version-- at least, the version we first wrote about last fall-- Snow White and the older man are chained together and must fight their way through the woods; in the process he teaches her survival skills. I'm not quite sure how the prince fits into the scenario, though I guess his presence means we won't be seeing a romance between Kristen Stewart (on board to play Snow) and whoever winds up starring opposite her. Claflin is already kind of playing second-fiddle to established star Johnny Depp in Pirates, so the prince role should feel perfectly natural to him

Snow White and the Huntsman is still set to start shooting in the fall in time for a December 21, 2012 release date; Charlize Theron is also on board to play the wicked queen.