‘The Hunt’ May Still Get a Release After All the Trump Drama

Last week, Universal Pictures decided to shelve the upcoming Blumhouse thriller, The Hunt, in the wake of the conservative uproar surrounding the film that is supposedly about—well, no one knows exactly, since no one has seen it. But here's what we do know: According to the trailer, The Hunt is a modern spin on The Most Dangerous Game, where a group of rich people hunt poor people for sport. The hunters are supposedly liberal elites, the hunted are "deplorables," and the movie was originally called Red State vs. Blue State, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The whole thing is pretty obviously a satire.

Unfortunately, we live in a late capitalist hellscape where there is little room for satire, and so the film stirred up a massive right-wing controversy and presumably inspired Trump to tweet about how "Liberal Hollywood is Racist," though he declined to name The Hunt directly. Universal had already paused the film's marketing push following the country's recent shootings in Dayton and El Paso, and then eventually opted to can the entire movie in the midst of the controversy. But it sounds like The Hunt isn't over just yet.

On Friday, Vulture published an interview with Blumhouse head Jason Blum where he touched on the problems surrounding The Hunt's rollout—and how he hopes the film still has a future.

"If I was offered the choice to make [The Hunt] again, I would say yes," Blum said. "We definitely made marketing mistakes, and we made plenty of mistakes along the way. So I’ve learned a lot. It might change how I would position movies and how I would consult on the marketing of the movies. But actually the making of the movies? No."

Blum said there was "definitely a chance" that The Hunt could still hit theaters. "I hope so," he went on. Universal appeared to leave the door open for an eventual release, too, saying in a statement after pulling the film that Universal stands by the "bold and visionary creators" behind The Hunt, but "we understand now is not the right time to release this film." The Hunt was directed by Craig Zobel from a script co-written by Lost and Leftovers mastermind Damon Lindelof. It stars Hilary Swank and Ike Barinholtz—or will star, if we ever get to actually see it.