Most poorly timed movies ever

Unfortunately there has been a spate of shark attack stories this summer, including reports yesterday about a man dragged half a mile by a six-foot shark off the coast of Devon (he was fine by the way).

Bizarrely, this week also sees the release of 'Shark Night 3D', a film which - as you’d expect - sees a bunch of college students terrorised by, um, sharks. Not good timing at all.

Amazingly however, ‘Shark Night 3D’ is not the first film to find itself overshadowed by real life events…

Zoolander
The Ben Stiller classic about a dumb male model was released just 13 days after the tragic events of 9/11.

Many believed that releasing a comedy that soon after the horrifying attacks was insensitive and poorly timed, but Stiller and his studio stuck to their guns. In the short term it seemed like a poor decision, as the film made just £9.5m-odd, but in time it became a much-loved cult classic.

Collateral Damage

Unfortunately ‘Collateral Damage’ was an all too appropriate title for this flick, also set for release just a month after 9/11.

The action film starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as a firefighter who loses his family in a terrorist attack. The material was obviously far too sensitive to unleash on cinema screens.

Thankfully the October 2001 release date was delayed until the following year and a scene involving a hi-jacked plane was cut completely.

The Sum of All Fears
In Tom Clancy’s book the antagonists were Islamic terrorists, but this was changed for the film because director Phil Alden Robinson did not believe they could pull off the audacious attacks seen in the story.

Neo-Nazis took over villain duties but the movie still contained scenes of destructive terrorist attacks. After 9/11, the marketing campaign was re-thought and the release was also delayed until the following year.

Phone Booth
Colin Farrell starred as a man who picks up a public telephone, only to find the voice on the other end belongs to a criminal mastermind holding a sniper rifle aimed directly at him.

A cult classic now, the original release in October of 2002 unfortunately coincided with a spate of sniper attacks in Washington DC that killed 10 people over a period of three weeks.

‘Phone Booth’ was pushed back and released early the next year.

Gone Baby Gone
Ben Affleck’s directorial debut follows two Boston detectives investigating the disappearance of a young girl. The film was delayed in the UK due to similarities with the case of missing three-year-old Madeleine McCann.

Besides film’s plot, the missing girl in the film also looked shockingly similar to Madeleine. Even now it’s an uncomfortable watch.

Dr Strangelove or: How I Learnt To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Stanley Kubrick’s classic black comedy about the cold war and the end of the world was meant to have its first test screening on November 22, 1963. It was the day US President John F Kennedy was assassinated, an event which forced the studio delay the film until the following year.

Even worse, the ending originally involved a massive pie fight in the war room and saw the President (Peter Sellers) utter the line: “Our gallant President has been struck down in his prime!” when he’s hit by a pie.

It was cut for the theatrical release, but was added following Kubrick’s death in 1999.

Hereafter
Clint Eastwood’s fantasy drama about a man (Matt Damon) dealing with his psychic abilities starts with a tsunami wiping out a coastal town in Thailand.

The film was quickly pulled from Japanese theatres earlier this year after the earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed thousands.

The Boondock Saints
This story of Irish vigilante brothers rampaging against criminals was extremely violent and featured numerous bloody gunfights.

Unfortunately the film’s production coincided with the very real Columbine school shootings and it was only shown in extremely small number of screens in the States as a result. It did become a hit on DVD though.

V for Vendetta
Alan Moore’s renowned graphic novel was originally set for release on November 5th 2005, the 400th anniversary of Guy Fawkes’ attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament - the plot was a major influence on the book and lead character V.

It never made the release date though. Some fans believed this because of the London tube bombings of July 7th that same year, though this was denied by the studio. After all, V is technically a terrorist despite the film casting him as a sort of hero and he rebels against the oppressive British government.

The film’s climax features the destruction of parliament and Big Ben in a massive explosion planned by V. It may have been too soon for some viewers.

Space Camp
A family-friendly Sci-fi about the young attendees of a space camp who are launched into space following the shuttle they’re on malfunctioning.

It was released barely five months after the Challenger space shuttle disaster, which killed all seven astronauts onboard. The filmed flopped at the box office and is seen as one of the biggest marketing disasters in Hollywood history.

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