One of the most talked-about movies of the year is the one nobody has seen … yet. One of the biggest controversies of last year was when Universal canceled the release of “The Hunt,” the Damon Lindelof-written, Blumhouse-produced thriller based on “The Most Dangerous Game,” or at least playing off that idea: hunting humans for sport. The twist that Lindelof and filmmaker Craig Zobel (“Compliance“) gave the movie is putting a blue-state/red state divide into the schism into the movie and—at least based on the trailers—making it appear that those being hunted would be Red State “deplorables” and the rich elites behind it all were Blue State East Coasters. That’s reductive and clearly not exactly how the movies go down, but that’s what the trailers teased, more or less.
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The tag line was, “Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don’t know where they are, or how they got there. They don’t know they’ve been chosen… for a very specific purpose … The Hunt. “
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But “The Hunt” quickly become politicized by Fox News who was outraged about the idea of some Hollywood elites revenge film, the president started making a meal out of it and Universal canceled the movie.
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Well, now, it’s back on and dated for March 13, six months after Universal pulled the film from its September 2019. Now, Universal has a movie that received a lot of free marketing last fall on its hands.
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.
From Jason Blum, the producer of Get Out and The Purge series, and Damon Lindelof, creator of the HBO series Watchmen and co-creator of the TV series Lost, comes a timely and provocative new satirical thriller that has already ignited a national conversation. Now, it’s time to decide for yourself. Leftovers). Blum produces for his Blumhouse Productions alongside Lindelof. The film is executive produced by Zobel, Cuse and Steven R. Molen.
“The Hunt” is written by Lindelof and his fellow “Watchmen” collaborator Nick Cuse. Director Craig Zobel is also known for “Z for Zachariah,” and “The Leftovers.” Betty Gilpin from “GLOW” and Hilary Swank star and the movie also features Ike Barinholtz, Emma Roberts, Amy Madigan, Macon Blair, J. C. MacKenzie, Justin Hartley, and Sturgill Simpson. “The Hunt” is back on, now on March 13. Watch the new trailer below. Way to go on using this controversy for your marketing Universal.