Distributors of Quentin Tarantino’s violent film Django Unchained have canceled the premiere in the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn. shooting.
The Weinstein Company will still show the film, but they have pulled the red carpet and uninvited the press. The Weinstein Company has requested media attend another screening instead. The company will now be holding a private viewing of Django Unchained for cast members and their families only.
The film studio claims this has nothing to do with the violence in the film, rather that no one wants to party after Friday’s tragic events.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the tragedy in Newtown, CT, and in this time of national mourning we have decided to forgo our scheduled event,” aTWC spokesman told Deadline NewYork.
Even before this announcement of the premiere’s cancellation, Tarantino had already voiced frustration during a press conference Saturday in New York about having to constantly defend his violent films.
Many events were canceled the day after the Sandy Hook shootings, but Tarantino decided to hold the previously scheduled press conference to publicize his newest movie. Yet, instead of highlighting the film, the director found himself defending it.
“I just think you know there’s violence in the world,” Tarantino said at the conference, “Tragedies happen, blame the playmakers. It’s a Western. Give me a break.”
The Academy Award winner argued that the public should be pointing fingers at the perpetrators instead.
The director doesn’t seem to be on the same page as one of his actors in the upcoming film. Jamie Foxx, who stars in Django Unchained, insisted Saturday that violence in movies does play a part in real acts of violence such as the Connecticut massacre.
This would all make more sense if the actor wasn’t bragging about how excited he was “to kill white people” in the movie in a recent “Saturday Night Live” appearance.
