Blumhouse’s controversial movie The Hunt was recently pulled from Universal Pictures’ release schedule. The movie was supposed to hit theaters in September, but now there is no release date in sight, though Jason Blum hopes to remedy that situation in the future. The story reportedly involves 12 “deplorables” kidnapped and released on a big stretch of land where they can then be hunted by the liberal wealthy elite. The Hunt automatically sparked controversy, but it all seemed like good free marketing at the time.
However, things took a turn for the worse after the deadly mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas within days of each other and the Gilroy, California shooting about a week prior. Universal Pictures immediately decided to pause the promotional campaign for The Hunt, which was a wise decision since the footage featured humans hunting other humans. After the decision to pause marketing, the movie was pulled altogether. When asked if The Hunt could still be released, Jason Blum said, “Definitely a chance. I hope so.”
The current political climate in the United States is divisive, to say the least. Fox News was quick to pick up on the political undertones of The Hunt and would bash it nearly every hour, which led to President Donald Trump getting on board and calling Hollywood “really terrible” and “racist.” He then said in reference to The Hunt, “the movie coming out is made in order… to inflame and cause chaos.” Whatever the case may be, the backlash continued to grow with studio executives getting death threats over the concept of the movie.
Related: The Hunt Trailer: Humans Are Targeted as Sport in Ultra-Violent Blumhouse Thriller
The Hunt isn’t even really about deplorables being hunted by liberals. That’s what the marketing wants people to think, which is actually doing it a disservice. There is a pretty big twist that ends up explaining everything in the end. Yes, they’re were negative test screenings, but most of the complaints have come from people who haven’t even seen the movie. There is dialogue in the movie that Donald Trump and his supporters will more than likely not like, but that’s the way it works. You’re not going to be able to please everybody.
So, The Hunt may see the light of day after all the dust settles, at least that’s what Jason Blum is hoping for. The movie reportedly cost upwards of $15 million and the studio would like to see some kind of return when all is said and done. Blumhouse has a reputation for being able to take smaller budget projects and turning them into box office gold. So it might not really be in the end of the road for The Hunt just yet. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens in the months to come. The interview with Jason Blum was originally conducted by Vulture.
