Universal Pictures canceled the release of controversial film “The Hunt” following the deadly shootings in El Paso, Dayton and Gilroy. At the time, the studio announced that it wasn’t “the right time” to release the movie due to its violent themes.
But that’s not the first film to have its releases affected by real-life tragedies and controversies. Besides “The Hunt,” eleven more movies have been delayed, pulled or tweaked… and we have the list.Here are the movies:
- “Phone Booth” (2003): The thriller about a publicist being tormented by a sniper was supposed to come out in November 2002. But, the release was delayed until the next April after 10 people were killed in the Washington DC Beltway sniper attacks in October 2002.
- “The Watch” (2012):The alien-invasion comedy was got its title changed from “Neighborhood Watch” following the tragic shooting ofTrayvon Martinby a neighborhood watch member. The movie’s marketing campaign was also tweaked to focus on the sci-fi elements of the plot.
- “Bastille Day” (2016):The action film was delayed after the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, and then pulled from theaters altogether after another attack in Nice on none other than Bastille Day.
- “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” (1964):The Cold War satire byStanley Kubrickwent through some changes afterJohn F. Kennedy’sassassination. The movie’s release was postponed, a joke was redubbed, and a pie fight that included a line about a “young president struck down in his prime” was also cut.
- “O” (2001):The violent high school adaptation of “Othello” was supposed to be released in 1999, but was shelved for two years after the Columbine High School shooting.
- “Gangster Squad” (2013):The movie’s release date was pushed so it could be reworked to replace a scene where gangsters shoot moviegoers at a theater after the 2012 shootings at a midnight screening of “The Dark Night.”
- “Gone Baby Gone” (2007): Ben Affleck’sdirectorial debut was postponed for almost six months in the United Kingdom after the highly-publicized disappearance of three-year-oldMadeleine McCann.
- “Death Wish” (2018):The remake starringBruce Williswas pushed from 2017 to 2018 after the October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas. The delay was just as problematic, since the new release date landed just three weeks after the Parkland high school shooting.
- “The Interview” (2014): Seth RogenandJames Franco’scomedy about a pair of journalists who get involved in a plot to assassinateKim Jong-Unwas surrounded by controversy after the Sony hack of 2014, which was blamed on North Korea. The hackers threatened to attack screenings if the studio released the movie… eventually, Sony released it digitally after multiple theaters refused to show it.
- “View From The Top (2003), “Big Trouble” (2002), “Collateral Damage” (2002):All three movies were delayed or reworked after 9/11. They all ended up being box office flops, too.
Source:Entertainment Weekly