Last summer, Universal cancelled the release of The Hunt, a take on “The Most Dangerous Game,” a short story in which rich people hunt others for sport. The twist, according to the first trailer, is that this version appears to feature a liberal elite class hunting red state “deplorables.”
According to Universal, they had already “paused” the marketing campaign for the film in August after a series of mass shootings, but it wasn’t long before they announced they were cancelling the release altogether. The decision seemed to be in response to some negative reactions online, spurred by Fox & Friends coverage and a mini-rant from Donald Trump.
….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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 9, 2019
Now it looks like Universal has un-cancelled the movie. Even more, they’ve turned the backlash into a marketing campaign. “The most talked-about movie of the year is one no one’s actually seen” reads the poster, which is full of pull quotes from entertainment sites, as well as right-wing outlets like The Daily Mail and Fox News.
image: Universal
There’s also a new trailer, which focuses less on the actual hunting and more on the conspiracy theory that seems to be behind the hunt.
This new trailer gives the impression that the “fake news” of the hunt has been around much longer than the event itself. Is this confirmation bias-turned-murder rampage? I could be in for that movie.
Here’s the official synopsis:
“In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, a group of elites gathers for the very first time at a remote Manor House to hunt ordinary Americans for sport. But the elites’ master plan is about to be derailed because one of The Hunted, Crystal (Betty Gilpin, GLOW), knows The Hunters’ game better than they do. She turns the tables on the killers, picking them off, one by one, as she makes her way toward the mysterious woman (two-time Oscar® winner Hilary Swank) at the center of it all.”
I don’t know if this movie’s going to be any good. I sure hope it is. But I also just really appreciate them coming back to troll the right-wing media outlets who will rail against “cancel culture” while also seeing no hypocrisy in feigning outrage over a movie trailer.
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