The Hunt | Universal | March 13, 2020 | Coming to VOD on Friday March 20

[Barnack]

27 minutes ago, AJG said:

So my guess is that after spending time with the “hunted” characters it turns out they were all responsible for some heinous shit in their past and that’s the reason they’re being hunted, and they all pretty much deserved to die. 

A bog standard horror trope. The reason they’re being hunted is due to reasons no sane US conservative would want to attribute to themselves thus making the hoopla

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ads-pulled-hunt-wake-mass-shootings-1229829

Apparently at one point of the script the reason could have been as stupid has expressing anti-abortions stance or used the N-word on twitter.

[WittyUsername]

To be clear, a Hollywood film that pokes fun at liberal elites, despite how ironic that might seem, isn’t actually unprecedented. That’s exactly what Get Out did. 

[OncomingStorm93]

1 hour ago, Barnack said:

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ads-pulled-hunt-wake-mass-shootings-1229829

Apparently at one point of the script the reason could have been as stupid has expressing anti-abortions stance or used the N-word on twitter.

I agree with those involved with the production who questioned the existence of this project.

 

I say that not because of any political leanings, but because a film built on glorifying the worst of our current political divide was only ever going to end in unjustified negative controversy.

[Barnack]

2 hours ago, OncomingStorm93 said:

but because a film built on glorifying the worst of our current political divide was only ever going to end in unjustified negative controversy.

 

Not sure if it was not ridiculing it and not glorifying it too, talking about an unseen movie usually make little sense to me.

[MovieGuyKyle17]

It should infuriate everyone that any studio would cancel a film because of what our stupid president said. He wouldn't of known about the film if Fox News didn't bring it up. God, Hollywood is stupid. 

[filmlover]

6 minutes ago, MovieGuyKyle17 said:

It should infuriate everyone that any studio would cancel a film because of what our stupid president said. He wouldn't of known about the film if Fox News didn't bring it up. God, Hollywood is stupid. 

The worst part about all this is that President Nitwit is gonna see this as another win in his continued attempts to deflect from the real source of the problems (the relaxed gun laws in this country) but the studio was already pulling advertising for the movie and ultimately decided it couldn't be released so soon (and given that these unpredictable events are unfortunately only becoming more common, there was probably never going to be a right time to put this out in theaters).

Edited August 11, 2019 by filmlover

[Ezen Baklattan]

Honestly, the premise sounds like a persecution complex fantasy, a distant cousin of God's Not Dead.

 

So I'm laughing my ass off at the far right conning itself out of the rare film that would have shown them in a more sympathetic light.

[OncomingStorm93]

57 minutes ago, Mr Pastaffelees said:

Honestly, the premise sounds like a persecution complex fantasy, a distant cousin of God's Not Dead.

 

So I'm laughing my ass off at the far right conning itself out of the rare film that would have shown them in a more sympathetic light.

The ultimate irony.

 

Grade-A avatar btw

[Krissykins]

On 8/10/2019 at 9:41 PM, Yandereprime101189 said:

 

*shrugs*

 

It probably was going to get creamed by the other releases when it was released anyway, so either bomb or get cancelled and dumped. 

Hey, this guy has a crystal ball apparently 😂 just a heads up, Blumhouse/Universal usually hit a home run with these high concept low budget films. 

On 8/10/2019 at 10:20 PM, Napoleon said:

I understand the cancelation in the US, but why not continue to market and release it in the rest of the world, where people can't buy a gun at the grocery store? Keep the international release, and deal with the US later.

Agree 

On 8/10/2019 at 10:30 PM, lorddemaxus said:

Because that costs money and Universal isn't going to be spending more money on markets where the movie will basically make zilch. 

The last Purge film made $70m internationally. Could’ve been a worthwhile idea. 

 

America aren’t getting it, cause they can’t behave like normal humans. 

[The Futurist]

On 8/11/2019 at 12:09 AM, WittyUsername said:

To be clear, a Hollywood film that pokes fun at liberal elites, despite how ironic that might seem, isn’t actually unprecedented. That’s exactly what Get Out did. 

Not really.

[AndyK]

Do they actually mean cancelled or postponed?

[filmlover]

16 minutes ago, AndyK said:

Do they actually mean cancelled or postponed?

The theatrical release is off. In all likelihood Universal will just quietly bow it on their streaming service that's gonna be launching next year.

[Krissykins]

28 minutes ago, filmlover said:

The theatrical release is off. In all likelihood Universal will just quietly bow it on their streaming service that's gonna be launching next year.

After the media coverage this week, I don’t think it’s release will ever be “quiet” 

[Avatree]

20 hours ago, MovieGuyKyle17 said:

It should infuriate everyone that any studio would cancel a film because of what our stupid president said. He wouldn't of known about the film if Fox News didn't bring it up. God, Hollywood is stupid. 

I mean, the firing of James Gunn started with Trump. World's gone mad. (At least, America)

[Ryan Reynolds]

2 hours ago, Avatree said:

I mean, the firing of James Gunn started with Trump. World's gone mad. (At least, America)

Not the gun control we wanted

[dudalb]

Studio gave the Dayton/El Paso shootings are ther reason for the delay. Read what you want into that.

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

 

Quote

However, sources tell IndieWire that although the announcement came after the strategically executed uproar, the choice to cancel the date had already been made.

By the morning of August 5 — just after the El Paso and Dayton massacres, and four days before the film’s official cancellation —  banners for “The Hunt” were dismantled on the Universal lot in Los Angeles. This is different than pulling TV spots; in terms of studio protocol, it is almost always a sign of a film will be dropped from release.

 

 

They go on to mention other movies with moved/cancelled release dates due to real life events, and also suggest the movie having a surprise fall film festival screening as a possibility. 

Edited August 14, 2019 by BoxOfficeFangrl

[Avatree]

Regardless of when they made the decision, I still don't understand why they made the decision. From a business perspective -- do they really think it would be more profitable to not release it, than release it now?

 

And like, it wouldn't be released off the back of these shootings. There are frequent shootings in the USA and the film was scheduled for 27 September. No one will even remember the two shootings by the time The Hunt would have been released.

Any outrage would amount to very little, I'd have thought. There's enough people who go and watch these small budget blumhouse type horror/thriller films. 
I don't understand the business rationale behind this - could someone explain?

 

The only valid explanation I've seen and could imagine is that Universal knows the film is absolute dogshite.

[filmlover]

 

 

[Avatree]

5 minutes ago, filmlover said:

 

 

Good article. Interesting nugget here:

 

Quote

(sources in the international film community say they are still interested in releasing it).

 

Wonder if Universal will be able to sell rights off to other distributors internationally, where people would not be offended by references to American politics.

Then again, one must question the appeal of a film about American politics, to non-American countries.