Universal Shelves ‘The Hunt’ After Mass Shootings and Trump Criticism

Universal Studios has decided to shelve The Hunt, following increased criticism of the movie brought their way by President Donald Trump. 

The Hunt brought together an all-star team of writers, actors and producers. The story was written by Damon Lindelof, and starred Betty Gilpin of GLOW and Hilary Swank. The movie was produced by Blumhouse, Jason Blum’s horror company behind hits like The Purge and Get Out.

The satirical film followed elites as they hunted down MAGA types in a winking, political take on the The Most Dangerous Game. It came under fire following a string of mass shootings in the United States. Trump subtweeted the film on Twitter.

“Liberal Hollywood is Racist at the highest level, and with great Anger and Hate! They like to call themselves “Elite,” but they are not Elite. In fact, it is often the people that they so strongly oppose that are actually the Elite,” he wrote. “The movie coming out is made in order to inflame and cause chaos. They create their own violence, and then try to blame others. They are the true Racists, and are very bad for our Country!”

The studio had ceased their marketing due to the shootings in El Paso and Dayton and ultimately decided to pull the movie from their release schedule.

“While Universal Pictures had already paused the marketing campaign for The Hunt, after thoughtful consideration, the studio has decided to cancel our plans to release the film,” Universal said in a statement. “We stand by our filmmakers and will continue to distribute films in partnership with bold and visionary creators, like those associated with this satirical social thriller, but we understand that now is not the right time to release this film.”