‘Django Unchained’ Premiere Canceled After Newtown Massacre

Quentin Tarantino’s new Civil War-era Western Django Unchained has canceled a public premiere in Los Angeles in the wake of last week’s school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, Us Weekly reports. 

“In this time of national mourning, we have decided to forgo our scheduled event,” said the movie’s distributor. Instead the film will be screened for a small group of cast and crew and their family and friends. Starring Jamie Foxx as a freed slave who becomes a bounty hunter, Django – as with most Tarantino films – has its fair share of vivid violence.

The Best Movies of 2012: ‘Django Unchained’

“I just think, you know, there’s violence in the world, tragedies happen, blame the playmakers,” Tarantino said at a press junket on Saturday. “It’s a Western. Give me a break.”

Django isn’t the only film to see a scaled-back premiere following the tragedy: Tom Cruise will introduce his new movie, Jack Reacher –which opens with a sniper shooting several people dead – at a toned-down screening in Pittsburgh. The event was initially planned for Saturday, but Paramount Pictures called it off “out of honor and respect for the families of the victims.” 

Parental Guidance, a new comedy starring Billy Crystal, also saw its Hollywood premiere canceled, with its studio Fox releasing a statement that read, “The hearts of all involved with this film go out to the victims, their families, their community and our entire nation in mourning.”