Earlier today we learned that Warner Bros. has decided to cancel upcoming movie premieres for The Dark Knight Rises out of respect for the victims of the Colorado Massacre that took place early Friday morning at a midnight screening of the film. Right now we learn that Warner Bros. has other decisions to be made about another of their films which is due for release soon. As you may know, WB will release Gangster Squad in theaters in September … a film which features a scene where movie theater patrons are shot by gangsters from behind a movie screen. Because of the eerie similarity to the real life events that took place in Colorado, WB now must decide whether to delay the release of Gangster Squad … or to edit out the movie theater scene altogether.
Warner Bros. is contemplating changes to its upcoming thriller “Gangster Squad” in the wake of Friday’s movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo. during a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.” The film, scheduled for release Sept. 7, features a key scene in which mobsters open fire on a theater audience from behind a movie screen. Automatic gunfire rips through the screen as horrified filmgoers rush for the exits and police try to stop the mayhem. Trailers for “Gangster Squad” prominently feature the scene. The 1940s period piece, centered on gangster Mickey Cohen’s attempted takeover of Los Angeles, stars Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling and comes from “Zombieland” director Ruben Fleischer. After the news of Friday’s shooting, Warner Bros. pulled the trailer from theaters. It had been playing in front of movies including “The Dark Knight Rises.” In addition, the trailer is no longer available to watch on websites such as YouTube. Studio executives are discussing the possibilities of pushing the release date and recutting the film to minimize the theater shooting scene or remove it altogether, according to two knowledgeable people not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. As a result of the editing plans, Warner is considering canceling a “Gangster Squad” test screening planned for later this month, the people added. Cutting the scene won’t be an easy task. It serves as a climactic moment, and even shortening it could hurt the noir action film’s narrative arc. As a result, any significant changes might require shooting new scenes. Regardless of whether there are re-shoots, it’s possible Warner will delay the release of “Gangster Squad” in order to distance it from Friday’s shooting rampage. A studio spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.
The newest Gangster Squad trailer that I posted last week has already been removed from You Tube because it features the movie theater shooting scene mentioned above … but you can watch the trailer in full below to see what I’m talking about — the scene comes in at the 2:00 mark of this trailer:
This really does prove to be a huge problem for Warner Bros. If they do not remove the scene from the film, someone will most assuredly complain and accuse the studio of being callous, heartless, etc. toward the victims of the Colorado shooting. On the other hand, if they do remove the scene and edit the film someone will most assuredly complain that the studio is giving the Colorado shooter exactly what he wants — more attention, more notoriety, etc. In the end, I think the studio will end up changing and possibly delaying the film … the sight of gangsters opening fire in a movie theater is just too similar to what just happened Friday morning in Colorado.
This reminds me of the way the first Spider-Man movie (released in 2002) was edited in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attack in NYC. Many of you may not know this but the first trailer for the first Spider-Man movie featured a scene where Spider-Man captured a group of bank robbers who tried to escape via helicopter. Spidey caught the entire helicopter in a web spun between the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center. In the wake of the September 11 attack, the trailer was pulled and the scene was cut from the film completely. But, because nothing ever dies on the Internet, here is that first Spider-Man trailer in full:
You can’t tell me that this Spider-Man scene featuring the World Trade Center isn’t cool … but because of the 9/11 attack, there was just no way this scene could exist in the movie. I think the same thing will apply for Gangster Squad. In the grand scheme of things, editing a movie won’t really hurt anyone … and the sensitivity that the studio will appear to show by making the edits will help the film’s success in the long run. I suspect Gangster Squad will still face criticism no matter what changes get made due to the subject matter. But, WB will prolly decide to do everything they can to lessen the criticism.
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