Heathers, a TV adaptation of the popular 1988 black comedy starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, was supposed to debut on the Paramount Network on March 7. But the series premiere has been pushed back until later this year due to the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead.
“Heathers is a satirical comedy that takes creative risks in dealing with many of society’s most challenging subjects ranging from personal identity to race and socio-economic status to gun violence,” Paramount Network released in a statement. “While we stand firmly behind the show, in light of the recent tragic events in Florida and out of respect for the victims, their families, and loved ones, we feel the right thing to do is delay the premiere until later this year.”
The Heathers movie includes a scene where Slater’s character shoots and kills two fellow students, and (spoiler) the movie ends with a bomb detonating outside a school. The delay also gives creator Jason Micallef time to re-tool the show, which has been savaged by critics (and embraced by the alt-right).
The Daily Beast called it an “LGBT-bashing nightmare,” while Birth.Movies.Death.‘s Leigh Monson wrote, “Heathers is a hateful, bigoted exercise in regression hiding behind the guise of dark comedy, and I can only hope it doesn’t gain the Trumpian audience it so clearly craves.”
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
