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The Hunt: Universal suspends marketing of gory horror film following US mass shootings

Blumhouse feature has TV ads pulled in wake of recent tragic events 

Jacob Stolworthy
Thursday 08 August 2019 11:28 BST
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The Hunt (2019) - trailer

A new horror thriller from Lost creator Damon Lindelof has had its marketing suspended following the recent mass shootings in American.

Blumhouse film The Hunt, distributed by Universal, is “temporarily pausing” its campaign after 34 people were killed in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio last weekend.

“Out of sensitivity to the attention on the country’s recent shooting tragedies, Universal Pictures and the filmmakers of The Hunt have temporarily paused its marketing campaign and are reviewing materials as we move forward,” a studio representative said in a statement.

Craig Zobel’s The Hunt, written by Lindelof and Nick Cuse, follows 12 red-state strangers who wake up in a clearing and realise they’re being hunted by liberals.

Hilary Swank, Ike Barinholtz, Emma Roberts and GLOW star Betty Gilpin are among the film’s cast.

On Sunday, AMC aired a trailer for the film during the ad break for the final season of Preacher but, according to Deadline, there will be no more TV promos or outdoor posters for the film.

Lindelof’s new TV show – his first since The Leftovers, which Zobel directed multiple episodes of, – is a remixed version of Alan Moore’s Watchmen starring Regina King and Jeremy Irons.

It’ll be released in October and you can watch the trailer here.

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