Trivia / The Hunt (2020)

• Box Office Bomb: The COVID-19 pandemic led to the film making less than half of its $14 million budget worldwide.^note Ultimately would be true of nearly every COVID-era movie, for what it's worth, though The Hunt was an early example.
• California Doubling: An amusing case both out and in-universe. The hunters trick the targets into thinking that they're in Arkansas, whereas they're actually in Croatia. The film was entirely shot in Louisiana.
• Distanced from Current Events: The film's original September 27, 2019 release was cancelled due to the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio and the eventual controversy surrounding the film. Coincidentally, Universal opted to release Abominable on that date instead, as it was scheduled much earlier than this movie.
• Dueling Works: With the Quibi series Most Dangerous Game starring Liam Hemsworth, released just under a month after Hunt (on Quibi's launch day). Due to the lack of concrete digital rental numbers for The Hunt^* Universal cited $60 million in rental figures between Hunt, The Invisible Man, Emma. and Never Rarely Sometimes Always, but did not clarify how the figures were distributed across the four films, and Hunt has generally ranked below Invisible Man and Emma. in digital sales rankings or viewership figures from Quibi for Game, it's hard to call an exact winner in this duel. In terms of reviews, the mixed-positive reviews for Most Dangerous Game (later nominated for an Emmy) give it the edge on The Hunt and its polarizing response, though Game has far fewer reviews from either critics or audiences. Although Quibi executive Jeffrey Katzenberg confirmed that early viewership figures for Quibi have been disastrous, Most Dangerous Game was renewed for a second season following its Channel Hop to the Roku Channel (following Quibi's swift demise), while The Hunt is not expected to receive a follow-up after its poor box office.
• Early-Bird Release: Shortly after its theatrical release, the film was made available on video on demand, along with the likes of Emma. (2020) and The Invisible Man. The reason for this is the COVID-19 Pandemic shutting down many theaters across the world.
• Release Date Change: A notorious case. Originally set for September 27, 2019, the film's trailer garnered extremely vicious reactions from U.S. right-wing media, accusing the film of being a dangerous political tool intended to glorify the murder of conservatives. Even then-President Donald Trump got in on the act, condemning "Liberal Hollywood" for making the film. Paired with two high-profile mass shooting events in August 2019, with the shooter expressing a political bent in each, Universal suspended advertising for the film and eventually removed it from the schedule, later redating it for March 13, 2020. Unfortunately for the film (which launched a new promotional campaign embracing the controversy), the new date landed it right at the onset of COVID-19 lockdowns, cutting its run short after just five days in theaters and forcing it to shift to a VOD release.
• Screwed by the Network: Both of its two planned release dates suggested that Universal was treating the film as a token release. Its initial date of September 27th, 2019 had the film positioned just one week before Joker, a massive blockbuster that likely would have stolen Hunt's "controversial" thunder as well; it was also the same date as Universal's own Dreamworks Animation film Abominable, which presumably would've received higher advertising priority. The final date of March 13th, 2020 saw the film opening just two weeks after Universal's horror hit The Invisible Man (2020)^* (indeed, Invisible Man grossed more than Hunt on the latter's opening weekend) and a week before the planned release of expected (and eventual) horror blockbuster A Quiet Place Part II. Pandemic or no pandemic, it seems the studio never saw The Hunt as much of a moneymaker.

---