[Movie] The Hunt

Six months ago, in early August, the Craig Zobel-directed dark satire “The Hunt” made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

The film’s trailer was released at the end of July, but shortly after came three mass shootings which stirred the always ongoing gun debate in the United States and Universal understandably decided to hold off on marketing and releasing a film which involved people killing each other “Most Dangerous Game” style.

The film also found itself a political football. No-one had seen the film at that point but the project was already being slammed for inflaming partisan conflict, even as Zobel said the aim was to satirise ‘both sides’ of the liberal/conservative divide.

Erroneous reports about the film’s content and test screenings began to leak and hit political commentary sites and ultimately turned what could have been a quiet little release into something anticipated – depending upon whether it would ever get released.

Well, now the studio has finally settled on a new release plan. The movie is set to open theatrically on Friday, March 13th and a new trailer for it has been released today along with a poster, and in both cases they’re smartly leaning into the controversy that erupted and using it as a marketing tool.

Jason Blum and Damon Lindelof produce the film which follows twelve strangers who mysteriously wake up in a forest clearing only to discover that they are being hunted for sport by a group of rich liberal elites. Betty Gilpin, Ike Barinholtz, Hilary Swank, Emma Roberts, Ethan Suplee and Justin Hartley star.

https://www.darkhorizons.com/universals-hunt-gets-new-trailer-date/