Blumhouse's The Hunt is experiencing another setback due to low box office in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, meaning that even its excellent marketing and surrounding controversy won't be enough to save the movie's second chance run.
Director Craig Zobel and co-writers a new trailer and promotional materials were dropped with a March 13, 2020 release date that capitalized on the buzz from before, spinning the hype into marketing about "the most talked about movie of the year that no one's actually seen".
While those associated with the film do have appropriately timed release date that, in many ways, would have been better for the film if not for the current issues in the industry surrounding the coronavirus.
The Hunt's Release Is Struggling Due To COVID-19
For all intents and purposes, The Hunt should have been a success for Blumhouse. The Fast & Furious 9, have been delayed until 2021, it's possible that another change could have put The Hunt on Universal's shelf permanently, so releasing was a risk that isn't paying off.
Even though movies are getting delayed, audiences are needing to make smart decisions regarding what they want to see if they take the chance to travel to a theater. Many government officials have limited or warned against any sort of large gatherings, so crowds are already going to be scarce. With The Invisible Man still in theaters, it's possible some might choose that over The Hunt, but even without that information, Box Office Pro stated that the film was only projected to do between $6-11 million during its opening weekend.
While The Hunt was made on a reasonably low budget of only $14 million, it wouldn't take much to make the film a moderate success. However, it seems that the film nobody has seen is also one many won't be talking about after the weekend es because its controversy won't be enough to override rising fears about coronavirus.
