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'Jack Reacher' Premiere Postponed, Some TV Episodes Pulled In Wake Of Sandy Hook Shooting
It's a familiar routine by now: media companies are rethinking how their movies or TV shows might play after tragic mass violence.
In the wake of yesterday's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary Schoool in Connecticut, Paramount Pictures is postponing the premiere of the Tom Cruise thriller "Jack Reacher" that was supposed to take place in Pittsburgh tonight, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The studio released a statement explaining its decision:
"Due to the terrible tragedy in Newtown, Conn., and out of honor and respect for the families of the victims whose lives were senselessly taken, we are postponing tomorrow’s Pittsburgh premiere of Jack Reacher. Our hearts go out to all those who lost loved ones."
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The Reporter notes that the film opens with a "disturbing" scene that shows a sniper in a parking garage, gunning down five random people at a riverfront promenade in Pittsburgh.FOX has also pulled Sunday's episodes of "Family Guy" and "American Dad," because it contains "sensitive content," although it didn't explain exactly what that sensitive content might be. The episodes "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" and "Minstrel Krampus" are being pulled and replaced with reruns of "Grumpy Old Man" and "Wheels & The Legman and The Case of Grandpa's Key."
Funny or Die's "Billy on the Street" with Billy Eichner on Fuse was canceled last night out of respect for the tragedy, but SNL with Paul McCartney performing and Martin Short hosting will continue as planned if you need to laugh.
We haven't yet heard of any movies or TV shows being re-edited or re-shot in the wake of yesterday's shootings as was the case after the shootings in a movie theater in Aurora. Parts of "Gangster Squad" were reshot because one scene featured a movie theater shooting that might have felt a little too real.
UPDATE: We missed one! SyFy pulled an episode of "Haven," because one scene depicts violence at a high school. A spokesman told Entertainment Weekly, "In light of today’s tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, we have decided not to air it. At this time, no decision has been made as to when the episode will air." (h/t Man_NYC)
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