After Dark Not Making Friends with Ads
First 'Captivity' and now 'Wristcutters'
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After Dark Film is certainly making some waves with their advertisements, some of which haven’t even hit the public yet.
Just last week ads for the upcoming Elisha Cuthbert starrer Captivity hit the billboards of LA only to cause a massive stir and a After Dark Films said it will take down the offending ads by 2 p.m. on March 20. The images, as you can see above, depict abduction, torture and death of a young woman. I guess I can see the problem there was with those, but wait until you hear the new one…
The Hollywood Reporter has an article saying that fifteen suicide prevention groups are dead set against After Dark Films’ proposed campaign for the comedy Wristcutters: A Love Story, which is set to bill itself with signs showing people killing themselves.
After Dark Films co-owner Courtney Solomon told the magazine that while the film’s promotion may feature images of people jumping off a bridge, electrocuting and hanging themselves, they would be displayed as traffic-style stop or yield signs with a barring-style circle and line over the illustrations, along with hearts to reference the film’s romantic story line. He said the campaign may change before its mid-July rollout because of the outcry.
Solomon will be offering screenings or DVDs to concerned organizations as to show them the true nature of the film, but I can’t imagine it will make a difference since the offended groups have a problem with the advertisements, let alone the film itself.
The picture debuted last year at the Sundance Film Festival and is currently slated for an August 31 limited release and stars Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossamon, Tom Waits and Will Arnett. The film was written and directed by Goran Dukic and is said to be a strangely uplifting, darkly comic tale about a journey through the hereafter. This is a world where everyone still bears the scars earned from the manner in which they “offed” while the everyday reality is a twisted mirror image of our own mortal world.
The offended groups include National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Mental Health America and the Suicide Prevention Action Network USA and sent a letter to After Dark on March 13 claiming the ads were overkill.
I love the reason why Solomon hasn’t responded to any of the letters and correspondence, he is apparently reshooting and editing-in the more violent scenes to Captivity to make it more appealing to the audience that turned Saw and Hostel into hits. Sounds about right to me and it also sounds like they may need more of something if this early review is to be believed.
There is no word on what kind of action After Dark will take, but I am sure we will know soon enough.
For more on Wristcutters: A Love Story click here and for a look at Captivity click here.
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