Listen carefully…that sound you hear is Universal Studios flushing tens of millions of dollars down the toilet. Bowing to outrage over the upcoming movie ‘The Hunt’ that featured liberal elites hunting red state “deplorables” Most Dangerous Game-style, Universal has pulled the release of the film that was slated for next month.
Here’s the announcement from the left-leaning Hollywood Reporter.
Universal has decided to scrap the release of The Hunt — an R-rated satire in which elites hunt “deplorables” for sport — following a series of mass shootings across the country. The film had been set to hit theaters on Sept. 27.
The studio’s Saturday announcement came a day after President Donald Trump took aim at the film — though he didn’t name its title — and Hollywood, saying on Twitter, “Liberal Hollywood is Racist at the highest level, and with great Anger and Hate! They like to call themselves “Elite,” but they are not Elite. In fact, it is often the people that they so strongly oppose that are actually the Elite. The movie coming out is made in order 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!”
Even before Trump weighed in, the movie sparked an outcry on social media amid the public anger over gun violence and networks entered into the conversation when ESPN pulled an ad for the film that it had previously cleared. Subsequently, Universal pulled all spots.
“The Hunt” is was a project of Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions, producer of The Purge series of films. Blum has a long, well-documented, chronic history of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
So Universal bowed to the growing pressure and cancelled the release yesterday, probably hoping few would notice. Sorry. Too late.
Here’s the official studio statement deep-sixing the movie via the Hollywood Reporter:
“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,” the studio said in Saturday’s statement. “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.”
It’s hard to ignore the hypocrisy and disingenuousness in that statement. Obviously we aren’t privileged to know who at Universal thought green-lighting this $18.2 million low-budget production was a good idea. Perhaps TDS has infected many, if not most at Universal.
Or…is pulling the movie an admission of a mistake? A mistake that would have portrayed the hunted deplorables as heroes and protagonists? Could ‘The Hunt’ have been the biggest advertisement for civilian gun ownership ever?
We may never know. While Universal claims Blum’s movie was just a “satirical social thriller,” the hard-left doesn’t do satire. They act out their fantasies. See: Kathy Griffin.
Or, more ominously, other names that the mainstream media and Democrat politicians would rather Americans to never hear again. Names like Gavin Long. Micah Johnson. James Hodgkinson. Frederick Scott. Emanuel Samson.
So good riddance to ‘The Hunt,’ which should never have made it past the first pitch meeting at Universal. Or anywhere else.