In a move that was inevitable as the uninformed outcry that led to the film being pulled from the studio's release schedule to begin with, Universal has announced it will release Craig Zobel's The Hunt to theaters on March 13th.
Remember The Hunt? The movie where a bunch of old rich white folks hunt and kill people of a different political persuasion? The one that Universal and Blumhouse pulled from release back in September, following a number of mass shootings and a Trump subtweet? The one that isn't actually about Republicans hunting Liberals, which didn't prevent a fair number of right-leaning individuals from claiming that it did? Yeah, that The Hunt.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news, saying:
"Now Universal is going to release and market the film with attitude: A one-sheet, set to debut today, reads, “The most talked-about movie of the year is one that no one’s actually seen,” with the film’s original release date crossed out and blurbs highlighting news coverage of the scrapped release. A new trailer features the same pitch."
Here's that new poster...
...aaaand here's that new trailer:
So, what do we think? Well, this was inevitable, for starters. Universal was gonna release this movie one way or another, whether that meant sitting on it for a while or taking it straight to VOD; in this day and age, you don't just make a whole-ass movie and then do nothing with it, particularly not when it stands a fairly good chance of reaping in a few extra bucks at the box office thanks to being controversial. We're surprised it's happening so suddenly, perhaps, but not surprised this is how things turned out.
Secondly, The Hunt always looked like a moderately interesting dark comedy/thriller/horror jam, and still does. That puts the film squarely within our wheelhouse, and we'll definitely be giving it a whirl when it hits theaters next month. Will the rest of the country? Will you? Sound off in the comments below, and do stay tuned for more on The Hunt as further updates become available.