Universal Pictures has taken Blumhouse horror film The Hunt off its release slate. The news comes in the midst of the recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.
The Hunt follows a group of wealthy liberal people that kidnap and then hunt other humans — specifically republicans — for sport, and its subject matter has stirred up a controversy. Its distributor has halted the film’s marketing campaign and cancelled its release.
“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 a 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.”
Donald Trump recently criticised the film industry on Twitter, saying “the movie coming out is made in order to inflame and cause chaos.” Though he didn’t name the film in his tweets, many believe that he was referring specifically to The Hunt.
The film was written by Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof and Nick Cuse and directed by Craig Zoebl. It stars Hilary Swank as a “deplorable” being hunted, as well as Ike Barinholtz (Blockers), Emma Roberts (American Horror Story), Betty Gilpin (Glow) and Justin Hartley (This Is Us).
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