Blumhouse's controversial social thriller, The Hunt, ended up experiencing a delay from its original release in September 2019 after Donald Trump and his supporters decided to speak out against the film.
Director Craig Zobel and co-writers Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof sought out to write a movie for Blumhouse, and Jason Blum was enthusiastic about their pitch, which was a satirical adaptation of a classic short story from Richard Connell, The Most Dangerous Game. Blumhouse is known for releasing smart, timely horror that is apt to capitalize on different themes that explore race, sexism, and occasionally spark controversy, as referenced by the buzz surrounding 2019's remake of Black Christmas and political horror. Blumhouse is also responsible for The Purge franchise, which falls directly in line with themes explored in The Hunt and Jordan Peele's Get Out, which was nominated for Academy Awards.
Some reports mentioned Universal's hesitance surrounding the film's subject as early as May 2018, but Lindelof stated that he had never been made aware of concerns from the studio. The film's subject matter - one group of human beings hunting and targeting another - was certainly a loaded premise, but until August 2019, it seemed to be largely understood as satirical, as well as another attempt by Blumhouse to make smart decisions surrounding timeliness in release dates. More recently, Black Christmas released on a Friday the 13th during December, just before the Christmas holiday and Fantasy Island had a Valentine's Day release date. The new release date for The Hunt also happens to be a Friday the 13th: March 13, 2020.
The Hunt's Controversy And Delay Explained
First trailers and promotional materials for The Hunt released in July 2019, and didn't seem to catch the same fire that the film did only a few weeks later. In the first trailer, the premise is covered in a more generic way that didn't quite disclose the same level of political intrigue. The notion of the wealthy hunting the poor is nothing new, and has even been successfully executed in the midst of The Hunt's controversy. For example, Ready or Not was released on August 22, 2019, and explored a scenario where a young woman married into a wealthy family only to find herself hunted for sport on her wedding night during a high-stakes game of hide and seek. Ready or Not was successful, turning a $6 million budget into $57.4 million gross at the box office.
On August 3, 2019, two mass shootings occurred in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. 22 people were killed in El Paso and nine were killed in Dayton. As is common during these tragic circumstances, concerned citizens flocked to blame violent media, and in the midst was The Hunt. Though precautions were made to be sensitive in the wake of the tragedy and some advertisements for the film were pulled, test screenings continued to be successful. As is the nature with satire, there's a level of absurdity that marks elements that can be rooted in more serious discourse as more palatable; it seemed The Hunt's audience, for the most part, understood Zobel, Lindelof, and Cuse's message.
The Hollywood Reporter released an exclusive on The Hunt that highlighted the word "deplorables", which was coined by Hillary Clinton during the 2016 US Presidential Election. From there, rumors began circulating that the film was once titled Red State vs. Blue State, though this has been denied. Fox News picked up a story on The Hunt, framing it as the "liberal left" inciting violence against conservatives, Republicans, and supporters of President Trump; this got the President's attention and, via Twitter, he released a statement condemning violent media, though never mentioned the film by name. Trump's supporters boycotted the film, and Universal ultimately decided to shelve it until a later date. Ironically, cast and crew of the film have said that The Hunt was made to take a closer look at both sides of the political aisle and show how divisiveness and assumptions perpetuated by stereotypes can be dangerous.
