In the wake of the awful tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, it was revealed earlier this week that Warner Bros. had decided to remove a sequence from the Ruben Fleischer film “Gangster Squad” that featured gangsters shooting through a movie screen toward an audience and that the studio was already planning reshoots in order to make the then-locked-in September 7th release date.
But now it looks like the studio has come to their senses and realized that there would be no way to have reshoots and meet a release date that would only be a little more than a month away, so they have decided to postpone the film until next year. January 11th is looking like an appealing date right now as the only competition is the Jeremy Renner-starring “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters,” which is currently riding a wave of zero buzz. While we had hoped that cooler heads would prevail, and that the scene (which is said to be a key climatic sequence) would stay intact, it seems WB is still looking to take it out entirely. Nothing is firmed up at the moment as scheduling for both the reshoots and a subsequent press tour for the film need to be ironed out, but either way it looks like the "Gangster Squad" gang are looking at both changes to the movie and a delay in release date.
In other scheduling news, Disney has moved up its latest 3D-conversion re-release (cash-grab) “Monsters Inc.” from its mid-January 2013 release a month to December 19th. There’s been no official comment on why the change was made but if we had to guess, we'd say the Mouse House simply recognised a gap in family fare programming when they saw it. It's a busy week at the theater with Judd Apatow’s “This Is 40,” the Tom Cruise action vehicle “Jack Reacher” and Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty” all making their way to screens, along with Michael Haneke's "Amour" and the tsunami drama "The Impossible" in limited release. Seems like a smart counter-programing move, for Moms and Dads trying to find some family entertainment.
Finally, the latest low-budget horror effort from "Saw" and "Insidious" helmer James Wan, "The Conjuring," will land on January 25, 2013. Starring Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, the film follows a husband and wife team of demonologists and psychic investigators who encounter the most horrifying case of their career, when they take on spirits in a Rhode Island farmhouse. Boo! [THR/BoxOfficeMojo/Deadline]
Planning on not seeing the movie in theaters if they go through with this.
I'm confused. Are movies real life? Seriously though, this whole "Gangster Squad" situation ticks me off. Warner Bros. is in no way responsible for any of this. Violence in movies is fake. I hope that people understand this. Some do not understand apparently. Thankfully, I believe that there are enough intelligent people out there who do understand this, and that this will only be yet another unnecessary p/c fad that smart people have to endure on the account of idiots. p.s. i think that some of these people are insulting the people who lost their lives simply because they wanted to relax and watch a movie that they all knew was fake. When the thought of "cutting parts out" comes up, let's not think of "Gangster Squad" and let's think of the killer instead. I'd like to see him get "edited." Like that offensive part where he is still alive and stuff.
Warner Bros should have cancelled this ultra-violent film that glamorizes mass-murder, and all of its other films glamorizing mass-murdering characters. Warner Bros should also immediately stop mass merchadising its toys, shirts, and costumes which glamorize mass-murdering characters. But ONE promise for Warner Bros – when its next ultra-violent film comes out – human rights activists will be protesting it!
Our petition to challenge Warner Bros' glamorization of mass murder will continue
http://bit.ly/StopGlamorizingViolence
RealCourage.org
I'm betting the film isn't very good. If Warner had any confidence in it, they wouldn't consider moving it to the January dumping ground. They'd push it to November or hold it until next summer when this had blown over and cutting it wouldn't be necessary.
WB should absolutley not cut the scene, the pushing back of the date makes sense anyway as coming up against Cruise, Bigelow and a Cannes Winner dosen't make for good business but the scene should stay intact despite the fact that shooting in a cinema will now be a sensitive issue for some time. It simply says that they are going to allow a sick person to impose his message on the film industry and the way fans have to view them: censored for political correctness.
Seriously just keep the scene in
Moving the release date is the sensitive and the right thing to do. Removing the scene and re-shooting is absolutely the wrong thing to do. While WB might be thinking that it would help, what it is really doing is sending the worst message possible. A tacit admission that movies are to blame for violence. Even if that were true, and it's not, the horse has already left that particular barn. It's a period film from a period where gangsters used tommy guns in public. It is also letting this crazy bastard with a bad dye job dictate what artists should do. All film fans should fight this stupid idea.
I'm all for being respectful but all this does is give that asshole more power and satisfaction.