Director Adam Green Speaks Out About 'Hatchet II' Being Pulled By AMC Theaters

"Hatchet II" had the potential to mark a new era of cinema when the slasher sequel, which failed to gain an R Rating from the MPAA, was picked up for limited release by AMC. But, after just days on release, it was unexpectedly pulled, without AMC expressing any meaningful explanation as to why they made the decision. Adam Green, director of both "Hatchet" releases has reacted to the decision, issuing a statement of his own.

“I first heard of Toronto and Montreal pulling the film via Canadian fans on Twitter on Saturday morning saying that the movie was pulled without reason and they wanted to know where it went. If you look at my twitter you'll see that I mentioned 'Hearing the film has been pulled from Montreal and Toronto- but don't hate the theaters, they tried.' Which leads me to believe that after Friday the movie was yes, gone. Calling the theaters can confirm that.

All signs would point to AMC being unhappy with how vocal I was about the MPAA and not wanting to deal with the controversy -- which if the case, is their given right. Had the film grossed millions, maybe it would be a different story with them, but given the size of our release and the nature of what this is, all we ever could have hoped for was a few grand per screen in a realistic scenario.”

The confusion felt by fans attempting to watch a screening at AMC is understandable, considering that Green had previously said to Entertainment Weekly that AMC had volunteered to show the unrated cut. "It turns out the people who make the decisions at AMC were big fans of the original "Hatchet" and loved the sequel," the director revealed."I think the quote was that they thought it was 'the best slasher sequel they'd ever seen'. "

Yet, AMC's decision to put an unrated film in cinemas was controversial. This has not happened for a film in this genre in a quarter of a century and so the announcement coincided with a wave of public criticism. Importantly, this decision presumably did not escape the attention of the MPAA. While Green has come out in support of the AMC chain itself, he has never pulled his punches when it comes to criticism towards the MPAA. This accumulated in a tasty outburst towards the ‘evil’ MPAA about their handling of not only "Hatchet II" but also the original "Hatchet." But, Green’s outbursts may have backfired and inadvertently set the MPAA's hand in motion to apply the pressure to get this film pulled so that their authority as regulator was reaffirmed.
A spokesperson for AMC has come out on the defensive on this issue. Commenting on the chain's decision, it was confirmed that "Hatchet II" has been removed from all cinemas and was followed by a written statement that reads: "At AMC theatres, we review all films in all of our theaters every week and then make our business decisions based on their performance."

But, just as Green stated, given the size of the release what did they expect? They chose to pick up an unrated slasher film with a limited release; did they expect comparative box-office receipts to say, the "Saw" franchise, which is over-exposed and given full release? No matter how defensive Green is to AMC, It appears a near-perfect marketing coup by the chain; having gained exposure and notoriety, they pulled the film, blaming the film's performance that never had a chance of succeeding. An easy out if there ever was one.

The vagueness behind the film's withdrawal has not escaped the attention of Green, talking to Cinematical he said: "The sad truth of the matter is that no one at Dark Skies (the film’s distributor) has been able to tell me the exact reasons behind why the film was pulled... AMC's response to the press of 'we base our decisions on performance' does not add up given that we know of at least two theaters that had pulled the film after just 24 hours and given the grand scheme of things, other genre titles performed worse per screen ("Chain Letter") even though they had bigger budgets and traditional spends on marketing campaigns as opposed to ours."

To conclude, Green has insisted that it is highly doubtful that "Hatchet II" will return to the big screen, in its current state or in an edited state that meets the MPAA regulations. However, he did have a positive note to fans. "The good thing is that the biggest audience for this movie, because it was for the first one, is going to be with on demand and DVD," Green says. "I know that Dark Skies, in light of it being pulled prematurely, is going to do everything they can to get it to the fans as fast as they can." -- Matt Richardson