As the Trayvon Martin shooting case continues to split the country in half, causing a national outroar the likes of which we haven't seen in years, THR reports that Fox has pulled the marketing for their upcoming comedy, Neighborhood Watch. The film stars Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Jonah Hill as three men who join the group in order to get away from their boring home lives, only to get caught up in a conspiracy involving space aliens. The poster and trailer feature a bullet riddled version of the classic neighborhood watch sign, with an extraterrestrial rather than the usual burglar silhouette.The trailer features the men rolling through the neighborhood surveying the local kids and pretending to gun them down.
The film doesn't reflect the Trayvon Martin case in any way, so there are no plans to change the story or push back the July 27th release date. Fox reps say the decision was made in deference to the controversy, which has swallowed up nearly every waking moment on the cable news networks. A Fox rep had this to say...
"We are very sensitive to the Trayvon Martin case, but our film is a broad alien-invasion comedy and bears absolutely no relation to the tragic events in Florida," "The movie, which is not scheduled for release for several months, was made and these initial marketing materials were released before this incident ever came to light. The teaser materials were part of an early phase of our marketing and were never planned for long-term use. Above all else, our thoughts go out to the families touched by this terrible event."
This kind of thing happens all of the time where studios find their movies hitting too close to a national tragedy, forcing changes to be made in some case, or flat out ruining the film's chances for success. During the run up to the release of Spider-Man, images of the Twin Towers had to be scrubbed due to the 9/11 attacks. The Joaquin Phoenix comedy, Buffalo Soldiers, which featured a less than flattering view of the military, was pushed back nearly two years for the same reason. Warner Brothers kept Clint Eastwood's film, Hereafter, out of Japan because it recreates the 2004 Tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean.
Fox will be moving ahead with the next phase of Neighborhood Watch marketing,which will feature a new poster focusing on the cast, and likely a re-edited trailer with more of the broad humor the film promises.
