Three years ago, Hollywood learned the hard way that if you poke a political bee hive, you might get stung. Sony‘s release of the Kim Jong-un assassination comedy “The Interview” starring James Franco and Seth Rogen angered the North Korean leader, who was believed to be behind the hack of the studio’s network, which saw an array of personal information and private emails flood the web. Now, extra caution is being taken with two upcoming films, and the fears they might insult another foreign power.
THR reports that the teams behind Fox‘s “Red Sparrow” starring Jennifer Lawrence and EuropaCorp‘s Thomas Vinterberg thriller “Kursk” are busy trying to scrub any references to Donald Trump’s pal and Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin. The first movie, directed by Francis Lawrence, follows a state intelligence officer in modern-day Russia, who is tasked with seducing a young CIA officer, only for the pair to fall for each other. Based on the book by Jason Matthews, Putin has a key role, but in early development he was dropped when the setting was changed to the 1970s. However, by time the film got in front of cameras, things were switched back to a contemporary setting, but the decision was made to keep Putin out of the screenplay, and it looks like a wise move by the studio, who clearly don’t want to step on any toes.
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Meanwhile, “Kursk” tells the true story of the titular Russian submarine, which sank in the Barents Sea in 2000, and the fight for survival by the 23 sailors on board. Even though Putin did feature in the script by Robert Rodat (“Saving Private Ryan,” “Thor: The Dark World“), he’s been dropped from the movie. Why is all this happening?
“For a studio to release a movie about Putin that makes him look like a fool would be suicide,” Ajay Arora, CEO of the security firm Vera, said. “That’s a certain way to be targeted .”
It’s always a delicate dance between creative compromise and keeping your business safe, but it doesn’t sound like either film will be hobbled too much by keeping Putin out of the picture.
“Red Sparrow” opens on March 2, 2018. No release date yet for “Kursk” but it will probably be on the festival circuit next year.