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A trailer for a film starring Betty Gilpin (left) and Hilary Swank was pulled after the El Paso shooting
Many of us watch movies not just for entertainment, but for escapism. A chance to be distracted from real-life problems for a couple of hours.
So films and TV shows which unintentionally reflect a recent real-life tragedy can feel insensitive or distasteful, and often end up being reshot or rescheduled as a result.
Forthcoming horror movie The Hunt, due to be released at the end of September, stars double Oscar winner Hilary Swank and Glow’s Betty Gilpin.
The satirical film tells the story of liberals and conservatives being pitted against each other in a violent and gory race – a storyline intended to reflect the divided nature of politics at the moment.
The movie sounds like an entertaining watch, with star names and a topical plotline – but some trailers for it have reportedly been dropped as a result of the recent shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.
One teaser for the film, which was due to air over the weekend, was pulled by ESPN. It was said to open with the sound resembling an emergency broadcast signal.
“In the aftermath of mass shootings within days of one another that shocked and traumatised the nation, Universal is re-evaluating its strategy for the certain-to-be-controversial satire,” wrote Kim Masters in The Hollywood Reporter.
Bastille Day, Shooter and Gone Baby Gone have all faced delays because of real-life events
But alternative trailers for The Hunt aired on different networks over the weekend as scheduled, and the graphic trailer has had millions of views online.
The movie release will likely go ahead as planned, albeit perhaps with a slightly altered promotional strategy. But it isn’t the first time entertainment products have been affected by real-life events.
Bastille Day, which starred Idris Elba in a story about civilians killed by a bomb explosion in Paris, was pulled from cinemas in France the day after it was released because of the 2016 terror attack in Nice.
StudioCanal stopped adverts for the film immediately after the attack and soon cancelled its release altogether, commenting that it was “not in line with the national mood”.
“Studios, like many major corporations, are risk averse,” says Andreas Wiseman, international editor at Deadline.
“The performance over its opening weekend can often make or break a film, so distributors spend a long time strategising over an optimum release date.
“If there is a chance a social or political context might turn media or audiences against a film, studios will reroute.”
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An episode of Friends was reshot after the 9/11 attacks
The studio’s request to pull Bastille Day out of French cinemas was supported by the film’s lead actor. Elba told The Sun that the producers probably thought the film was “insensitive” and did not “feel right to have out there”.
Yet some French film fans were disappointed with the studio’s decision. One told Reuters he “didn’t make the connection with Nice”.
“There are so many differences,” said the cinemagoer. “I think it’s a coincidence and I find it a shame for the people who made the film.”
Producing a film or TV series is a long and laborious process – the whole operation can often take years.
So when a project is thrown into uncertainty as a result of reality, studios often try to just delay (rather than cancel) its release.
In 2017, a remake of Death Wish was pushed back by several months after a mass shooting in Las Vegas.
And TV series Shooter – a drama about a sniper – was postponed after unrest prompted by the shooting of black men by police.
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Ryan Phillippe starred in Shooter, which was also postponed
USA Network initially delayed the show’s debut by a week – and “after further consideration”, it was subsequently postponed until the autumn.
Paris-based film journalist Lisa Nesselson, who saw Bastille Day in a French cinema after the Nice attack, says she is unsure whether TV networks and film studios should react in the same way.
“I don’t know if films are delayed or pulled out of respect for terror victims, because it’s assumed that nobody will be in the mood to see that topic or a little of both,” she says.
“I might be in favour of changing television programming in deference to a violent national event,” she continues.
“But I find it much harder to grasp why a movie that requires an individual to make the decision to pay to get in should be punished for being about the ‘wrong’ thing at a particular moment in time.”
Perhaps the biggest single event of recent times to affect the film and TV industry was the 9/11 attack in 2001.
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A 2017 remake of Death Wish starring Bruce Willis was postponed
A scene in Spider-Man featuring the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center was deleted from the film and the trailers in light of the sombre national mood, and the location was also edited out of Men In Black II and Zoolander.
Friends – one of the most successful TV sitcoms of all time – cut an entire storyline from one episode which saw Chandler detained at an airport after making a joke about a bomb.
It was replaced by a new storyline involving Monica and Chandler, and the already-filmed footage was only released years later as part of a box set.
In the UK, one of the longest delays to a major film came in 2007 when Gone Baby Gone was due to be released.
It came out in the US in October and was set for a UK release in December – but was halted by the disappearance of Madeleine McCann as the producers felt the plot, which dealt with a young girl going missing, was distasteful.
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Ben Affleck directed Gone Baby Gone, whose release was postponed in the UK
Wiseman says that while audiences like to identify with characters and storylines, a story which appears to reflect a real-life horror can be difficult to watch.
“Hollywood studios want and need audience identification in their films, but too much identification can become uncomfortable for some unsuspecting viewers who find material too close to real-life tragedy.”
He adds that once promotion has begun, films can be more difficult to change or postpone than TV shows.
“Delays can be very costly, especially if they happen after advertising has already been booked and campaigns are under way.
“If a campaign is fragmented or becomes confused in its timing, then audiences are likely to find something else to watch.”
However, he says it “can work both ways”.
“While many films about terrorism were shelved around 9/11, a whimsical and sweet film like Amelie unexpectedly took off in the US and in many other countries [because] audiences wanted a joyful escape.”
An earlier version of this article appeared in 2016.
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