Warner Bros Moves Gangster Squad Release To January

Just like we reported Warner Bros has decided in the wake of the Aurora, Colorado shootings that the release date of Gangster Squad will be pushed back to a later date. The release of the cops versus gangsters film starring Ryan Gosling and Sean Penn has been pushed back from September to January.

The push from Warner Bros may just hurt the Gangster Squad’s chances of receiving any kind of high praise come award season, which Warner Bros hoped it would earn. Usually the cut off to release “Oscar worthy” films happens at the end of the fall, which would knock any chance Gangster Squad had of receiving the high acclaim.

In addition to the decision to push back the film from its Sept. 7th release date for sensitivity reasons, Warner Bros. has decided to reshoot and edit a scene that sees gangsters shooting people behind a screen projector as they take in a movie. The scene, which was included in the film’s explosive trailer, was pulled, and instead of featuring the Gangster Squad trailer before The Dark Knight Rises like planned, Warner Bros decided to pull the trailer entirely from all screenings.

The shooting of the scene, which was shot at Los Angeles’ historical Grauman’s Chinese Theater, is a massive scene and pivotal to the plot, and the reshoots surrounding the Gangster Squad shoot are rumored to be massive. Ironically enough, the trailer for the film, which had been paired with The Dark Knight Rises midnight screenings, never played for the audience in Aurora before the shooting that left 12 dead and 58 injured.

Other studios are also being more aware about how a film promotes violence. The comedy starring Jonah Hill and Vince Vaughn The Watch by Twentieth Century Fox has changed its title to Neighborhood Watch after the death of Trayvon Martin.