Gangster Squad Getting Reshoots After Aurora Shooting

Originally opening in September, Warner Bros' gangster film may now be delayed until January.

After the recent tragedy at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado, the trailer for Warner Bros' "Gangster Squad" film was pulled from theatres and Youtube, due to a scene where characters fire guns at a audience through a movie screen. The film, starring Ryan Gosling and Sean Penn, is about gangster Micky Cohen's (Penn) control over the drugs, prostitution, and guns in Los Angeles circa 1949 and the efforts of a small group of LAPD officers led by John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Gosling) to take him down. The film is directed by Ruben Fleischer, who also helmed "Zombieland" and "30 Minutes or Less." The scene from the trailer is said to be an important climatic scene but Warner Bros decided to have it removed. There were plans to still have the film meet its scheduled September 7th release date but now Warner Bros is considering postponing the film until next year. The reshoots wouldn't allow the film to be ready by September and now January 11th, 2013 is being eyed as the new release date, which is also the release date for "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton. It's not yet clear how the filmmakers will work around the scene in question and what affect it'll have on the film. Will the climax lose its impact or importance? Ultimately, the changes to the film and the delayed release date may overshadow its qualities, good or bad, and may define how people view it, or at least how they view the climax of the film.
Contributor
Contributor

I'm Canadian! I'm a recent graduate of the Journalism Program at the University of King's College in Halifax. I'm an aspiring actor and film critic, and lover of all things film and Shakespeare. My favourite movie is "Casablanca" and my favourite play of Shakespeare is "Othello."