Is there something fishy going on with Kick Ass 2?
This weekend, the Hollywood Reporter noticed that Universal Pictures had quietly replaced an image of Hit Girl (Chloe Grace Moertz) from the upcoming Kick Ass 2 with a slightly altered version that digitally removed guns that were hanging on the wall in the background. The original picture (See below for a comparison) had been available earlier in the month.
This discovery comes on the heels of comments made by the film’s co-star Jim Carey over the level of gun violence in the movie, which was shot before last December’s horrific school shooting in Sandy Hook, Connecticut that left 26 elementary school students and teachers dead.
I did Kickass a month b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence. My apologies to e
— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) June 23, 2013
I meant to say my apologies to others involve with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart.
— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) June 23, 2013
Universal did not respond to the Hollywood Reporter’s request for a comment, leaving us to speculate as to the reason for the altered image. Was the change made in response to Carey’s concerns by a studio hoping to downplay the incident? Possibly. But I have to wonder if the impetus for the change came from another source – the Motion Picture Association of America. As you probably know, the MPAA has control over the movie ratings system and the trailers that studios release to promote their films. But in addition to that they also have authority over all advertising materials for films from the signatory studios, of which Universal is one. I would posit that perhaps the MPAA whispered a word or two into Universal’s ear suggesting the alteration.
This is not the first time that promotional material has been altered to tone down a potentially violent image. A trailer for Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull had a shot where Indy (Harrison Ford) and Mac (Ray Winstone) are surrounded by Soviet soldiers yet their weapons are non-existent in the trailer and yet are on full view in the actual film.
Something similar happened in the trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1, where blood on Uma Thurman’s yellow track suit was digitally darkened to brown to look more like dirt than the bright red stains that are visible in the film.
Kick-Ass 2 opens August 16.
interesting…..I suppose my only concern here is that we seem to be indicating to each other that Americans are unable to discern obviously fake movie violence for actual violence. This has been a growing concern of mine for many years. We are infantilizing ourselves as a society. For thousands of years, humans have enjoyed dramas, comedies and other staged forms of entertainment. Shakespeare has some horrifically violent scenes in it…Greece and Rome both had thriving theater cultures and many of these included some of the most violent plays imaginable….yet somehow our ancestors knew this was staged violence and didn’t blame… Read more »
What’s next? No cursing in this movie? This is going to be pussified like the next Robocop
There have been many cases in which blood seen in a trailer is darkened to look more like dirt than blood. Eg, the second trailer for Star Trek (2009) the blood coming from Kirk’s nose isnt nearly as red as it is in the movie.