French movie theaters have withdrawn the action film “Bastille Day” from their schedules in the wake of last Thursday’s massacre in Nice that killed at least 84 people.
The decision to pull the film, which is about the efforts of a CIA agent and a common criminal to stop a terror attack in Paris on July 14, was made at the request of the film’s French distribution company, StudioCanal, The Associated Press reported on Sunday.
Antoine Banet-Rivet, a StudioCanal spokesman, told the AP that the request was made “out of respect for the victims [of the Nice attack] and their families.”
Posters promoting the film, which stars Idris Elba and Richard Madden ― best known for playing Robb Stark on HBO’s “Game of Thrones” ― included the tagline, “This year, the fireworks are them!” The slogan is especially eerie in light of the fact that the deadly truck rampage in Nice targeted people watching a Bastille Day fireworks display. In cities across France, fireworks are common on the French national holiday that celebrates the anniversary of the French Revolution on July 14.
Elba, whose acclaimed performances in the BBC’s “Luther” and other popular TV series and films have elicited calls for him to be cast as James Bond, told U.K. news outlet Complex that he was not involved in the decision to pull the film.
Nonetheless, Elba said, “It’s a good thing that they pulled it from the theaters because it could come across as insensitive.”
UGC, one of France’s largest movie theater chains, told HuffPost that the film would still be available in theaters through Tuesday evening.
“Bastille Day” debuted in France, where much of the film was shot, on July 13, the eve of Bastille Day. The film, directed by British filmmaker James Watkins, opened in the United Kingdom on April 22.
There is no public information available about a U.S. release date for the film.
“Bastille Day” is not the first film to be pulled from French movie theaters after a terror attack. “Made in France,” a feature film about a journalist who infiltrates a terrorist cell plotting an assault on Paris, which was set to debut Nov. 18, 2015, was withdrawn after the Nov. 13 attacks across Paris.
The French newspaper Le Figaro speculated as to whether “Nocturama,” a film due out on Aug. 31, will also be pulled due to concerns about insensitivity to the victims in Nice. “Nocturama” tells the story of a group of young people who come together in a Paris department store and coordinate a series of attacks across the city.
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