Radcliffe film shot in the foot
The release of Daniel Radcliffe’s new movie should have been a triumphant adrenaline shot for New Zealand film. Instead it’s suffered a self-inflicted wound that threatened to see it pulled from its international release schedule.
The former Harry Potter star had taken the lead role in the violently dark action comedy
Guns Akimbo. Written and directed by Kiwi Jason Lei Howden, the film was largely shot in Auckland and had received funding from the New Zealand Film Commission.
It enjoyed a successful world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival where its over the top, video-game style violence was praised.
But its release plans went akimbo this week when Howden inserted himself into a social media controversy that started with a racial slur, led to a suicide attempt and almost saw the movie dropped from cinemas a week from its release date.
Last Thursday a private message exchange emerged in which Dilara Elbir, a film writer and editor-in-chief of the movie blog Much Ado About Cinema, used a racial slur. Shortly after, many of the blog’s writers quit and the discussion spilled on to Twitter. Later that night Elbir posted an apology video that appeared to follow a suicide attempt. Her friends contacted authorities and she was rushed to hospital. They report she is in care but is safe.
The conversation moved to whether Elbir
was cyber-bullied, which is when Howden got involved. He tweeted a thread calling those criticising Elbir “woke cyber bullies”.
“The PRIVATE DM that was maliciously leaked was obviously an ironic joke. Can’t believe anyone would think she was being serious,” he tweeted.
He has since deactivated his Twitter account. Howden also used the official Guns Akimbo Twitter account to criticise a writer who had written a think piece on the situation.
“Troll article from someone who cyber bullied a women [sic] until she attempted suicide,” he wrote. This tweet has been deleted.
Howden yesterday tweeted an apology before deactivating his account, saying, “Just to set the record straight, my posts were only meant to be about bullying,” he wrote. “I don’t support Diara’s DM. Racism is not acceptable in any context. My mother committed suicide after a lengthy period of being bullied, which I didn’t know about until it was too late. To see others doing the same is incredibly painful.”
Many calling for the film to be boycotted, leaving its release status was up in the air.
After being contacted by the Herald, the movie’s New Zealand distributor said it would be released as planned.
“The recent online behaviour of Jason Lei Howden was unacceptable, and Madman do not agree with or condone his views and actions. We will be releasing Guns Akimbo on March 5 in New Zealand to honour and support the hard work of hundreds of individuals behind the production.”
The movie’s American distributor Saben Films also confirmed the film will be in American cinemas this week. “While we do not condone, agree or share Mr. Howden’s online behaviour, which is upsetting and disturbing, we are supportive of this film.”
How this controversy affects the movie’s fortunes remains to be seen.