Universal Cancels The Hunt Release Amid Controversy

The satirical horror movie The Hunt was set to be released on September 27, but seen as inflammatory in an extremely tensed context, it has been momentarily cancelled.

Led by actors Hilary Swank, Emma Roberts and Betty Gilpin, the film tells the story of humans who hunt other humans as a sport, with twelve conservative Americans set-up to be hunted by "liberal elites."

This storyline had already generated backlash by Fox News and other conservative outlets. Many feared that such a scenario could trigger the already growing danger of white supremacist groups.

The Hunt trailer, packed with assault rifles and hand guns can be watched below:

https://youtu.be/x8IifEu67yU

Major tensions have arose this month in the United-States following two mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, which have respectively claimed nine and 22 lives. This follows another shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on July 28, which brings the death toll to 34.

Protests for the victims have been taking place across the States, expressing national anger over long-standing issues - gun control especially. That is when Trump decided to launch an attack against the Hollywood filmmaking industry.

Last Friday, he blasted it as "racist" and insisted that it is doing a "disservice" to the United-States. While he did not mention The Hunt specifically, it seems rather clear that he was referencing to it in the comment he made during a press gaggle:

“They’re treating conservatives very unfairly. Hollywood — I don’t call them the elites, I think the elites are the people they go after in many cases. But Hollywood is really terrible. You talk about racist — Hollywood is racist. What they’re doing with the kind of movies they’re putting out, it’s actually very dangerous for our country. What Hollywood is doing is a tremendous disservice to our country."

In his usual fashion, the American President went on to re-affirm his point via a diatribe on Twitter, insisting that Hollywood is responsible - at least partly - for violence and chaos taking place in the United-States. Unsurprisingly, he did not question his own controversial anti-immigration views.

“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,” read a statement for the production company.

"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."