In the wake of the tragedy in Aurora, Colo., Warner Brothers will be cutting a movie theater shooting scene from their upcoming film Gangster Squad, Variety reports. The studio has ordered reshoots, and now plans to postpone the release date to accomodate those reshoots. It is eyeing a January release date.
The shooting, which killed 12 and injured 58, has led to Warner Bros., the studio responsible for both The Dark Knight Rises and Gangster Squad, to rapidly react to the unfolding events. Warner Bros. (who, like TIME, is owned by Time Warner) canceled the Paris premiere of Dark Knight on Friday, pulled the Gangster Squad trailer from theaters, decided to reshoot parts of the film, and is now postponing the film’s release. It’s the first time since 9/11 that a national tragedy has forced Hollywood execs to adjust their long-term plans for a high-profile release. (After 9/11, the World Trade Center towers were deleted from scenes in Spider-Man and Zoolander, and the plot of The Bourne Identity was revamped to de-emphasize terrorism.)
(WATCH: The Original Gangster Squad Trailer)
The plot of the Gangster Squad pits gangsters against cops in Depression-era Los Angeles and features a hefty amount of gun violence. As the trailer shows, the scene being cut is eerily similar to the situation in Aurora when James Holmes opened fire on a packed movie theater. The preview features mobsters shooting into the audience from behind the movie screen as terrified audience members scramble for the exits. Execs felt that on its original September 7 release date, the scene would be too reminiscent of the Colorado shooting to show in theaters.
The reshoots will not be trivial: apparently, the movie theater shooting was a key plot point in the film. The studio may have to call back at least some of its all-star cast — including Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Sean Penn, and Josh Brolin — for filming.
MORE: Warner Bros May Recut Gangster Squad After Colorado Shooting