00:00The hunt is back on.
00:01Universal sets a release date for the controversial film,
00:04Harrison Ford is calling out President Donald Trump,
00:07and the Film Academy is explaining why Luke Perry
00:09and Cameron Boyce were left out
00:11of the Oscars in Memoriam segment.
00:13I'm Tiffany Taylor, and right now,
00:14I've got the top stories you need to know today
00:16from The Hollywood Reporter News.
00:18First, THR can exclusively reveal
00:20that the controversial, satirical thriller
00:21that depicts quote elites kidnapping
00:23and then hunting quote deplorables
00:25is now set for a release of March 13th.
00:28Did you see that article?
00:29Every year, these liberal elites
00:31kidnap a bunch of normal folks like us
00:34and hunt us for sport.
00:36This comes six months after Universal pulled the film
00:38from its September 2019 opening,
00:40in the wake of several mass shootings that shook the nation.
00:43Following those attacks, Universal and producer Jason Blum
00:46decided to pause the ad campaign for the film,
00:49but after The Hollywood Reporter and other outlets
00:51reported on the film's premise,
00:53it generated instant controversy.
00:55Now, Universal is releasing and marketing the film
00:57as the most talked about movie of the year.
00:59The last I heard, free speech still exists.
01:02Don't First Amendment me.
01:03It wasn't real.
01:04In an exclusive interview with THR,
01:06Blum and screenwriter Damon Lindelof defend the film
01:09as an over the top satirical take
01:11on the divided state of the union.
01:13According to Blum,
01:13none of us were interested in taking sides with this movie.
01:17And Lindelof added,
01:18no one who has seen the movie
01:19has described the movie as provocative.
01:22He also said,
01:22We think that people who see it are going to enjoy it,
01:25and this may be a way to shine a light
01:27on a very serious problem in the country,
01:29which is that we're divided.
01:31And we think the movie may actually, ironically,
01:33bring people together.
01:34The R-rated film casts Hilary Swank as the ringleader
01:36of a gang of wealthy snobs
01:38who try to wipe out a group of assorted individuals
01:40who have posted right-wing views online.
01:42Though the quote,
01:43elites supply their prey with guns,
01:45the playing field is not level.
01:47But one woman, played by Betty Gilpin,
01:48turns the tables on the killers.
01:50What kind of sick people would even think of something like that?
01:53White people.
01:54We're the worst.
01:55Speaking of politics,
01:56Harrison Ford is the latest star to call out Donald Trump.
01:59THR's Neha Joy in New York has more.
02:01The actor dropped by Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday night
02:04to talk about his new film,
02:06and while he was there,
02:07Trump came up in conversation.
02:08Kimmel was joking about the title of Ford's new film,
02:11A Call of the Wild,
02:12and held up a fake Hollywood Reporter magazine
02:14with a number of quotes from Trump about the film.
02:16That call was perfect.
02:18Donald J. Trump.
02:19This was a perfect call.
02:20I'd call it a perfect call.
02:22It was a great call.
02:24You know what you should do?
02:24Best call ever was, of course,
02:26a knock on what the president had said repeatedly
02:28about the infamous Ukraine call that led to his impeachment.
02:31Ford, of course, had a good laugh over the whole gag.
02:33You know, it's the first thing that some b**** has done for me.
02:39Ever.
02:39This is not the first time the actor has knocked the president,
02:42about a year ago to the day stressing the importance of acknowledging climate change
02:46in a speech on the closing day of the world government summit in Dubai.
02:50Ford was quoted as saying,
02:51"...around the world elements of leadership, including in my own country,
02:55to preserve their state and the status quo, deny or denigrate science.
02:59They are on the wrong side of history."
03:01And finally, the film Academy is explaining why Luke Perry was left out of the In Memoriam segment
03:06that aired during the 2020 Oscars on Sunday.
03:09The Academy said in a statement,
03:10"...the Academy receives hundreds of requests to include loved ones and industry colleagues
03:14in the Oscars In Memoriam segment, an executive committee representing every branch considers the list,
03:20and makes selections for the telecast based on limited available time."
03:24The statement continued,
03:26"...all the submissions are included on Oscar.com and will remain on the site throughout the year.
03:30Luke Perry and Cameron Boyce are remembered in the Oscar.com gallery."
03:33Perry, arguably best known for his role in the TV series Beverly Hills 90210,
03:38appeared in the Best Picture-nominated film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,
03:41which served as his final film role.
03:44The actor died last March at age 52.
03:46Meanwhile, Boyce, who was also left out of the In Memoriam segment that aired on ABC,
03:51died at the age of 20 in July.
03:53For much more on all these stories and the latest entertainment news, head to THR.com.
03:57Until next time, for The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.
04:03See you then!
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