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EXCLUSIVE … UPDATE 9:30 AM: Warner Bros is now telling me that its outside non-studio spokeswoman failed to tell me the whole and accurate story about the process that led to the studio taking down its offensive Gangster Squad trailer this morning. A Warner Bros executive now tells me how the studio was scrambling to deal with the Aurora theater shooting crisis in the pre-dawn hours of the morning. Then, at 5 AM, one of the top distribution execs remembered that Warner Bros’ Gangster Squad trailer was playing “loose” this weekend timed to the studio’s The Dark Knight Rises release in about 30% of domestic theaters. (“Loose” means that theaters had been asked to play the trailer which was not paired with The Dark Knight Rises.)
According to Warner Bros, this distribution exec suddenly remembered that the trailer for the mob movie contained a scene showing a gangster with a machine gun shooting up people in a movie theater from behind the big screen. This distribution exec quickly instructed the studio to “replace it as soon as possible”. At 6 AM, Warner Bros started notifying the theater circuits to pull the offensive Gangster Squad trailer. That is being done all over North America today. Meanwhile, Warner Bros’ marketing department is scrambling to get out its second-generation Gangster Squad trailer already in the works. This new trailer, without the movie theater scene, will be swapped out for the offensive one within a week. Warner Bros says this is now the whole story.
And the studio’s explanation which I absolutely believe also makes clear that, while my phone calls overlapped with their behind-the-scenes process, I was not responsible for the studio pulling the offensive Gangster Squad trailer with the movie theater shooting scene.
PREVIOUS 7:30 AM: This was truly terrible decision-making by Warner Bros – both to release a trailer like this and then not to pull it immediately after today’s tragedy. I have confirmed that the studio which released The Dark Knight Rises paired offered it with the official movie trailer for Gangster Squad, an upcoming pic set in 1949 about a ruthless Mafia Godfather who runs Los Angeles. One of the scenes in the trailer that’s been playing all morning today shows a gangster with a machine gun shooting up people in a movie theater from behind the big screen. Several outraged moviegoers tipped me to this scene.
This morning I called on Warner Bros to take this trailer down immediately. The studio’s response to me? “There’s a meeting about this and then a decision will be reached.” I just received the call that the trailer is being pulled. But only after I complained. And yet movie moguls wonder why so much of the country hates Hollywood values where money trumps everything, even during the Aurora theater shooting tragedy. Here’s the horrible clip which no one at Warner Bros should have allowed to be made, much less released, in the first place:
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Are you saying that the studio was supposed to predict that someone was going to shoot up a theater? Are you saying that Warner’s is supposed to get every theater that has that trailer on the horn at 8 am and tell them not to screen it? Are you saying that we, as a society, are so fragile and weak that we can’t stomach 2 seconds of a movie trailer because something somewhat vaguely similar to it happened recently? … GROW THE HELL UP!
If you can’t take that, then you better not go to The Dark Knight Rises because a hell of a lot worse happens than a theater shooting.
DC -
It’s pretty foolish to show a trailer at a movie theater that shows people getting shot up in a movie theater. It shows a disturbing lack of common sense on the part of Warner’s for one thing.
“Are you saying that we, as a society, are so fragile and weak that we can’t stomach 2 seconds of a movie trailer because something somewhat vaguely similar to it happened recently? … GROW THE HELL UP!”
It’s not a matter of growing up – it’s a matter of wising up. Hollywood is out of control trying to provide for a society that has become more and more violent. Hollywood gives people ideas – especially the morally irresponsible ones, and Warner’s should NOT be providing such ‘entertainment’.
A scene from the movie Oubreak depicted a movie theater audience being exposed to the contagion due to one of the patrons sneezing. That elicited somewhat bemused gasps & groans from the people in the real audience I was in. You knew those characters IN THE FILM were as good as dead, you could empathize with them in the role as a moviegoer, but as a rational human, you also knew IT WAS JUST A MOVIE.
This is extreme overreaction. A scene from The Gangster Squad shouldn’t have been in the trailer? Stop blaming Hollywood studios for the bigger problem of the unchecked gun culture in this country.
That may be the most idiotic comment I’ve ever heard. Guns have been around loooooong before these incidents of senseless shootings of innocent civilians. Plain and simple, our society is the midst of extreme moral decay, and Hollywood has alot to do with it.
Like it or not, what people choose to entertain themselves (movies, video games, tv etc.) has a significant impact on their psyche. 50 years ago, incidents like this didn’t happen, but then again you would never be able to air the filth that passes for entertainment these days. The corelation is undeniable.
Wrong….
Not wrong at all. Analysis of “rampage” or “spree” killers clearly shows that the majority committed their crimes in the last thirty years. There were very few massacres of this type prior to the 70s and 80s.
However gun laws were notably more relaxed in the first half of the 20th century. In fact, fully automatic weapons were not even banned until 1986. So, in a period (up to the late 60s, early 70s) where firearms were abundant and widely available, there were very few cases, if any, of spree/rampage killings.
This changed from the 70s/80s onwards, with the outbreak of the spree/rampage killer phenomenon. This happened even though gun laws became relatively stricter, and automatic weapons were banned. So, from a factual perspective, it’s not just the availability of firearms that drives these murderous rampages. It’s clearly something else.
There is no unchecked gun culture you shythed – there is an unchecked liberalism that holds no one accountable for anything as long as they aren’t self sufficientor religious because everyone knows those are the two biggest problems in the world.a
Just for the record, this preview looks like it’s for a good movie. Sometimes violence in a movie is an effective way of not only telling a story, but making a point. This isn’t any more or less tasteless then scenes in serial killer movies that the serial killer attacks people in a movie theatre. Warner Bros. could not have predicted that Aurora incident. It’s really only tasteless in retrospect. I am not sure you are being completely fair with the production company.
However, your point is a good one that once the tragedy in Colorado occurred the reaction should have been swift to pull this particular preview, and not just for reasons of poor taste. They did react rather slowly.
Josh
“They did react rather slowly.”
How do you figure? The tragedy occurred in the middle of the night. By early morning, WB had convened an emergency meeting. At said meeting, someone remembered that the Gangster Squad trailer was circulating with some prints of TDKR. And they ordered a nationwide pull of the trailers before noon.
Yes because WB should have forseen that someone was going to shoot up a movie theater and not put that in their trailer. I’m sure the trailer had a lot to do with why the guy did this considering he already had the guns gas mask and so on. I’m sure that is his standard movie going equipment and he never considered using it until this happened.
Also luckily you were their to save the day. Even though your own article reports that they were having a meeting to discuss it before you even called
You object to the showing of this trailer in the theaters, but yet you have no objection to posting it here? It must not be that horrible and in poor taste if you’re promoting it here.
Yes to this…
Who the hell cares? It’s a trailer for another movie. All of a sudden, because of a tragedy, we’ve lost the ability to separate fiction from reality? You are the problem.
Agreed theatres should not play that trailer, that being said, if this was a lone wolf, EVERYONE needs to avoid fear and not make any knee jerk reactions.
Overeaction and stupid. The 24 year old who shot up the movie theater was sick. One person. Sick. Now, here in Boston, Mass, half the country away, they want to put armed guards in movie theaters. Seriously?? As a youngster, I watched every Friday the 13, Freddie, Chucky, Michael Myers. Did that turn me into a psycho? No. I know difference of right and wrong. Pulling a stupid movie trailer makes NO difference at all. Overreaction and stupid. You are sick, evil or not. No movie preview is going to make a difference. Very stupid and a dumb article. How about working on having 2 parent households? How about ANY religion in a person’s life? How about teaching morals in school?? Rather than wasting time on a stupid “let’s pull the preview of a gangster movie” campaign. Complete and utter waste of time…………
It’s not necessarily ridiculous – you know how the copycats come out of the woodwork in the weeks and months after something like this… And if they didn’t take extra precautions and something else happened you’d be screaming about how they didn’t step up security.
Copycats exist everywhere. If you don’t want them, don’t put anything out in society: Books, including the Bible… movies… TV… news…. nothing.
You are ridiculous.
These lunactics will always exist, they have throughout human history, they do throughout all cultures… it is a fact of life.
If not living is the only way to prevent them, then I’ll take my chances.
Just got back from seeing the Dark Knight – went specifically to see it to support the industry – THRILLED there was no extra security.
Not everyone in this world cowers
oh, one more thing…
a single guy or gal with a ccl and a nine mm automatic would have stopped the death toll at maybe one or two and ended this sick person’s life.
well you turned out okay so clearly that’s the end of that argument
You are SO Right! Well said. Immorality and ignorance have ruined our country and culture!
“Here’s the horrible clip which no one at Warner Bros should have allowed to be made, much less released, in the first place”
Who are you to suggest limiting free speech like that? Especially through the raw, 20-20 hindsight lens of a tragedy like the Aurora shooting. An incident happens, and your first instinct is to roll back the first amendment? Where do you draw the line? You’re playing into the typical American hysteria that bubbles up whenever something terrible happens. Don’t look for the real causes, just find a scapegoat. Pathetic.
Don’t you get it? Hollywood is doing everything they can to market toward children. Look at all the violence and sex on network TV these days, and it’s showing up before 9pm.
Maybe you can’t make the connection between movies and the sexualizing of our children, or that our kids are more violent these days, then maybe you should get some psychotherapy.
TO: Chris
RE: Maybe….
…it has more to do with the sort of corruption in society that is being fomented by the sort of ‘trailer’ WB released. Not to mention the movie.
When I was going to high school, we didn’t have Harris and Klebolds killing a dozen of their classmates for the ‘glory’. And I suspect this miserable human being was doing it for the same sort of ‘glory’.
15+ minutes of ‘fame’ at the expense of scores of shattered lives. All brought about because the parents of this monster did a horrible job of raising him. And that brings up the question of where is this character’s ‘father’? I see his mother mentioned and she comes across as ‘not surprised’.
Go fig….
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[You know you were a good parent, if your grand-kids turn out alright.]
Where do you draw the line? Snuff films?
This is what you get with a society in love with gun culture.
“Gun culture”…what is that exactly??? Maybe you should add “Gas Culture” too?? The guns and gas were operated by a human being. The guy shot those people. He could of also used fire, bow and arrow, trained dogs, bombs, a vehicle, etc. LEAVE YOUR POLITICAL OPINION AT THE DOOR PLEASE.
the people who got killed were unarmed. get a gun & learn how to use it! this is what happens in a society when they are sheltered & expect some1 else to save them. every1 cudve bum rushed this dude & grabbed his gunb4 he killed as many as he did but they all ran away
You’re ruining your argument here by looking like a douchebag. Good for gun rights and ownership, bad for basically calling all these victims cowards. I think if someone started shooting at a theater, I would likely not be prepared for that either.
What the fuck? Of course they were unarmed they probably didn’t expect to be fucking killed at a movie theatre. Everyone isn’t walking around on high alert waiting for the next mass killing. Should the baby have been armed when it got shot in the face?. Of course they ran away. They were running to save their lives. It’s a shame you weren’t there to be such a hero you fucking idiot.
totally agree, but this crazy had body armor from head and neck to toe. don’t know what stopped him. i regularly carry, but probably would have ended up dead in this situation. dead, but would have gone trying to save others.
HHAHAHA… Yes please bring back the “old west”. Something tells me the day everyone starts carrying a gun is the day everyone stops leaving their house.
There’s a lot of us with carry permits. We’re not the problem.
This has nothing to do with a gun culture, this has to do with a culture of violence. People determined to do violence will do so one way or another.
If we had a gun culture these acts would be stop on site!
TARGET!!!!!
The reason these types of senseless violence happen is that we not only have a gun culture, but one of violence.
Every notice that among most people–especially males, though not exclusively–expressions of physical love, be it kissing or sex, are avoided while orgies of physical violence in movies and television are not only normal (relatively speaking) but expected.
I actually enjoy horror films, but I also don’t delude myself about how make-believe violence makes it just a little bit easier, more acceptable, to make that transition to the real world for some that are already teetering on the brink of sanity or desperation.
And the more weapons you have, like guns, the easier it is–when you have made that decision to inflict harm upon others–to actually do so.
This gun culture has kept you free for 239 years.
Ah yes the “gun culture” is to blame. Had their been armed theater goers this would’ve ended much differently. The reason people panicked and ran for their lives is because they were defenseless. Wake, up Vuki. This isn’t a game.
Are speaking of America in general? If so, what was the excuse for what happened in Norway?
Wrong. Politicians afraid to stand up to the NRA gun lobby. No guns, no shootings. Simple.
Is Norway where the psycho shot up 69 people a Gun culture ?
The Left will surely use this tragedy as a further excuse to try and snag more freedoms from the Law abiding.
Last I checked out Constitution states we have the right to bear arms, whether you like it not. Would have turned out differently in just one person in that crowd was a CCWer.
This idea that one armed moviegoer would have stopped this… It’s a sick, ridiculous, tough-guy fantasy. Life is not a western.
No this is what you get when you don’t have enough Guns in the hands of responsible gun owners. The shooter would have thought twice if he thought there might be someone shooting back.
He did think twice: He was covered from head to toe in ballistic body armor. He was prepared for your cowboy fantasy. And dozens were killed and wounded anyway.
This is NOT what we get! If a law abiding citizen with a concealed carry permit would have been present, this psychotic criminal might have been stopped quickly.
In a dark theater, with smoke and noise, people running screaming and yelling — yes, that’s the perfect setting for someone with a half-assed gun certification to make like Clint Eastwood and drop the bad guy with one shot.
I get that it is tasteless to have to paired with Dark Night. But seriously Nikke…”no one at Warner Bros should have allowed to be made, much less released, in the first place”…why? Because they could have envisioned the tragedy happening when they made the movie.
I really don’t get your argument.
Are you kidding?? What are we 5 and overly sensitive? Yes what happened at the screening was a complete tragedy but lets not go crazy here….is this country just a bunch of babies that will freak out about everything? Please get a grip.
Agreed – get a grip…
It looks like a pretty cool movie to me.
Really? It’s articles like this that make me go crazy! “Here’s the horrible clip which no one at Warner Bros should have allowed to be made, much less released, in the first place:” It’s a movie. They can make what ever they want. That scene in the movie is suppose to be portrait of something is a tragedy. Movies take you on emotional rides. As adults we know what is right and wrong and whats fiction. No one saw this happening and I hope Warner bros does not remove the clip from the movie. I am so tired of political correctness is this country. Remember this is a tragedy and that doesn’t mean we should go out politicize this. Same goes with the left and there gun control bull. How about the guy who committed this horrible tragedy is a nutjob psyco and we leave it at that.
Thank you! Finally a person with brains here!
People should be freaking out about the fact that pathetic gun policies and culture allowed this to happen, not PC decorum over a movie trailer.
guns do not kill people, people who use roads, bridges, and had inspirational teachers do – especially after watching a Hollywood movie of anti-gun liberals glorifying murder and gun violence.
And yet YOU show the trailer on your site? I think, judging by the twenty-something emails you’ve sent out this morning, that you’re benefiting from this tragedy in your own way. I’m not saying by any stretch that you condone it, but back off on the sanctimonious attitude. Everyone’s trying to wrap their heads around this including the people at Warners. It’s only 7 in the morning and, like you say, they did pull the trailer. That “money trumps everything” comment is insulting to people who do care about what happened and are still trying to manage their lives.
We shouldn’t stroke the killer’s ego by making the impact of his actions larger than it already is. Don’t pull the trailer, don’t pull Batman, don’t change anything. Lock the murderer up, pray for those who were affected, and move on.
While it goes without saying that taking that down in light of today’s situation is just common sense.. to act all outraged that it was ‘even filmed in the first place’ — is going WAY too far and a bit over the top.
Gangsta crap like that happened then and it happens today in a different form. To pretend it doesn’t is folly.
sorry to state the obvious but the problem is regarding gun control not movies
Prove your point. I defy you.
I’ve more evidence that it’s the culture developed by the mass marketing of violence than you have of anything else.
Have to agree with the above comment. This was definitely a tragedy but I don’t see any reason to have the trailer pulled. This is almost as bad as renaming Neighborhood Watch.
STOP IT. STOP IT. STOP IT. Warner Brothers nor any movie EVER made has caused horror stories like Aurora. Dig pass your Blame Game and I bet you will find a young man with a terrible past and poor upbringing. Often spoken of in whispers and left unattended by the politically correctness of today’s society.
Hollywood elites make movies glamourizing gun violence and then scream when it happens in real life.
To say this was “terrible decision-making…to release a trailer like this” is irresponsible, Nikki! This is merely an unfortunate coincidence – not WB’s fault.
Complete tragedy but WB are not to blame for the inclusion of that trailer after the event. I expect theaters will now either get a new one or be told to not include it at all. No use blaming the studio.
it was a smart choice to pull the trailer, but saying it never should have been made or released in the first place is reaching.
Yeah I agree, get over it. This is sad but no need to point the blame finger and get all upset over a trailer. We are a nation of wussies and have to blame other things for someone’s issue.
Liberals will demand to throw out the 2nd amendment. What if we banned violent movies? Well we cant do that, that would violate someone’s 1st amendment. sigh…..
If guns can be controlled in spite of the 2nd Amnt … Then speech can be controlled in spite of the 1st ….