By Having already pulled the trailer, Sony are reportedly considering recutting their tentpole picture Gangster Squad in wake of the tragic shooting at a Dark Knight Rises screening in Colorado last week. The focus of the recut will be a crucial scene near the movie’s climax, where mobsters fire into a packed cinema auditorium from behind the screen. Sony are considering reducing the scene’s importance or removing it completely. A test screening scheduled later this month has been cancelled as a result.
If true, it’s a sensitive decision for the studio to make, particularly as the scene in question is supposedly the centrepiece of the movie’s climax, meaning expensive rewrites and reshoots could be required. Whilst acknowledging how horrific the events in Colorado were, my feeling is that art should not be compromised in view of real life events, even ones as sad as this. Delaying the movie until the shock has subsided would seem a more appropriate response to me – the current release date is September 7th – allowing mourners time to grieve without neutering what has looked a promising movie.
[via LA Times]