Movie premieres cancelled

Not surprisingly, the awful shooting in Connecticut has had repercussions in the world of film. The folk behind Jack Reacher, the latest Tom Cruise thriller, found themselves in a particularly difficult position. That film begins with a marksman apparently killing random passers-by in Pittsburgh. Paramount duly cancelled the US premieres of the Lee Child adaptation that were to take place at the weekend.

Then again, maybe the parallels with the Newtown massacre were irrelevant. After all, Fox also called off plans to launch the relatively harmless comedy Parental Guidance. By Tuesday, the premiere of Quentin Tarantino’s characteristically violent Django Unchained was also affected. The Weinstein Company cancelled the LA event and issued the following statement: “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, and in this time of national mourning we have decided to forgo our scheduled event.”