Universal stops marketing The Hunt after most recent deadly mass shootings

Enlarge / In The Hunt, Betty Gilpin plays Crystal, a woman who must fight for her life when she's hunted by wealthy "elites." (credit: YouTube/Universal)

Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Universal Pictures has temporarily ceased its marketing campaign for its upcoming satirical thriller, The Hunt, in the wake of three recent US mass shootings that claimed the lives of more than 30 people. The film stars GLOW's Betty Gilpin and Oscar winner Hilary Swank as two women from opposite ends of the political spectrum hunting each other—essentially a modern update of the classic short story, "The Most Dangerous Game."

“Out of sensitivity to the attention on the country’s recent shooting tragedies, Universal Pictures and the filmmakers of The Hunt have temporarily paused its marketing campaign and are reviewing materials as we move forward,” a representative for the studio told Deadline.

Delays like this have become something of a standard operating procedure for Hollywood over the last 20+ years as the industry grapples with how to navigate the dark reality of gun violence in America. Back in 1999, for instance, Buffy the Vampire Slayer postponed airing the episode "Earshot" in the wake of the Columbine High School massacre. Warner Bros postponed the release and recut a scene for its 2012 film Gangster Squad because of the Aurora shooting. And just last year, the television adaptation of Heathers was pushed back, recut, and nearly cancelled in light of the Parkland shooting. When writing about Universal's decision with The Hunt, Deadline notes even more examples—from Arnold Schwarzenegger's Collateral Damage shifting after September 11, 2001 and the 2017 Death Wish remake delayed following the mass shooting in Las Vegas.