Though it was only released a little more than a year ago, it feels like a lifetime has passed since “The Hunt” hit theaters last March. Most of that feeling is due to the pandemic upending the entire world for more than a year. But it’s also partially because even before “The Hunt” hit theaters, the film was part of a political controversy that found then-President Donald Trump tweeting about how terrible it is.
Unfortunately, this controversy exploded before the film was originally set to be released in 2019 and eventually was delayed for months as Blumhouse hoped tensions would dissipate. However, when the film was finally released, it hit with a bit of a thud, as people already made up their opinion about it without seeing a frame from the finished feature. Then the pandemic hit and “The Hunt” was quickly pushed aside and largely forgotten about.
Well, everyone but Blumhouse founder Jason Blum seemed to forget about it. For Blum, as he explained in a new interview with ComicBook.com, the controversy surrounding “The Hunt” not only haunts him to this day with every film he releases, but it marks the biggest regret the superstar producer has in his career.
READ MORE: ‘The Hunt’: A Dumpster Fire Of Shitposting, Political Trolling Hot Takes [Review]
“The pre-release controversy of ‘The Hunt’ ruined the whole movie,” Blum explained. “I mean, it ruined the release of the movie. ‘The Hunt’ was going to be a big hit movie, and the controversy before the movie destroyed the release of the movie. When I get asked what’s my biggest regret running the company, it’s that no one got to see ‘The Hunt’ because of that controversy. That controversy is horrible. It was bad. It was controversy about a movie no one had seen. People were making up stuff about a movie they had not seen, and I really hope it never happens again.”
He added, “I’m worrying about it happening before every movie. If we have controversy before a movie, it can wreck the release…But what can you do? I don’t worry too much. I can’t control it.”
READ MORE: ‘The Hunt’ Director Says The Controversial Film Has Been “Colossally Misunderstood”
The reason “The Hunt” is brought up more than a year after its release is because Blumhouse is bracing for the release of “The Forever Purge,” the finale of a franchise that has never shied away from having a political opinion. However, folks love “The Purge” franchise and the political messaging of the film series seems to be put on the backburner in favor of the colorful masks and violence that is seen in the films.
“The Forever Purge” arrives in theaters on July 2.