Nobody will be seeing The Hunt in theaters any time soon — or, as it turns out, maybe ever!
Universal Pictures has decided to scrap the release of the R-rated satirical film — in which elites hunt “deplorable” people for sport — after several mass shootings across the US over the last couple weeks. Donald Trump and others had also strongly criticized the premise of the movie and Hollywood in general ahead of its cancellation… for what it’s worth.
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The film had been set to hit theaters on September 27, but now, it’s shelved for good, with no plans to ever see air time in theaters from here. Movement this way started to gain momentum after the mass shootings earlier this month in Gilroy, California, El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. It didn’t help considering the movie’s entire premise was centered around humans hunting and shooting other humans in a similar mass casualty scenario.
Things began to come to a head in the last couple days when Trump inserted himself into the controversy, first speaking on Friday about the gratuitous violence in Hollywood films like The Hunt. Even this morning, he was tweeting about the issue from his own perspective on Hollywood and the liberal left, venting on the social media site (below):
….to inflame and cause chaos. They create their own violence, and then try to blame others. They are the true Racists, and are very bad for our Country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 9, 2019
Yeah…
Even before Trump weighed in on it, however, there had already been a significant social media outcry about the contents of the film amid the public anger over gun violence. Last week, ESPN pulled an ad for the film off its network — one the sports channel had previously cleared. And soon after, Universal ended up pulling all its advertising for the film, altogether. Then, the cancellation came.
On Saturday, when announcing the cancellation of the film entirely, the studio noted in its official statement (below):
“While Universal Pictures had already paused the marketing campaign for The Hunt, after thoughtful consideration, the studio has decided to cancel our plans to release the film. We stand by our filmmakers and will continue to distribute films in partnership with bold and visionary creators, like those associated with this satirical social thriller, but we understand that now is not the right time to release this film.”
No kidding.
An unnamed source close to the center of it all revealed more to THR about the decision to nix the release on Saturday, noting it all came down to making the “right” decision in light of the social climate of the time (below):
“This was a decision that the studio came to with The Hunt filmmaking team, but ultimately it was about making the right decision, right now. It was a tough call for the company, but studio leadership, led by Donna Langley, all agreed that this film could wait.”
So… does ‘could wait’ mean we’ll see it later on, or is it nixed for good?!
That part remains unclear as of now, but what we do know is The Hunt will NOT move forward… at least for now… and Trump will no doubt take some credit for this decision. Sigh.
Trump aside, though, what do U think about Universal’s decision, Perezcious readers?! Was this the right one to make?? Sound OFF about all of it in the comments (below)…
[Image via Universal Pictures]
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