'The Hunt' Will Be Released After All, Despite Backlash From Trump and Being Canceled

(Image Via Universal Pictures)

The Hunt is back on.

After Universal Pictures scrapped its release last year following real-world shootings and criticism from Donald Trump, the movie -- about "normal folks" who are chosen to be hunted for sport by the "liberal elites" -- has a new release date, a new trailer and a new marketing strategy: Full on trolling.

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"What kind of sick people would even think of something like that?" a character asks in the latest trailer, cutting to a separate scene in which another character answers: "White people. We're the worst!"

This new preview also calls into question the purported plot of liberals hunting conservative "deplorables," with Hilary Swank chalking the whole thing up to a conspiracy theory while Betty Gilpin maintains otherwise.

Meanwhile, a new poster touts: "The Most Talked About Movie of the Year Is One That No One's Actually Seen."

The Hunt
Courtesy of Universal Pictures

The Hunt was originally set to arrive in theaters on Sept. 27, although Universal canceled its release in the wake of mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, and tweets from Trump calling the movie "racist at the highest level" and claiming it was made "to inflame and cause chaos."

"My overwhelming thought -- after my being surprised -- was trying to figure out how we could get the president to see the movie," producer Jason Blum told reporters this week. "That was my biggest thing I was thinking about at that time. And I would love the president to see the movie." 

The Hunt opens in theaters March 13.

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