Gone Baby Gone release postponed due to McCann case
Story by Jack Foley
BEN Affleck’s directorial debut Gone Baby Gone has had its UK release shelved indefinitely because of similarities with the ongoing Madeleine McCann case.
The film, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, follows the investigation into the disappearance of a four-year-old girl. But Madeline O’Brien, the actress who plays the missing girl, bears a striking resemblance to missing Madeleine McCann who disappeared in Portugal in May.
Distributor Buena Vista and its subsidiary Miramax said they had been following the case for some time and were “sensitive to the depth of feeling surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann”.
“We have therefore decided to delay the release of the film in the UK,” a statement said.
Affleck himself said he had been made “acutely aware of the situation” regarding the McCann investigation and supported the decision.
Speaking from the Deauville Film Festival, he said: “We have a greater concern for that than the release of our film, which is just a commercial matter, whereas this is a matter of life and death. We don’t want to release the movie if it is going to touch a nerve or inflame anybody’s sensitivities.”
The film follows two Boston private detectives who are called in to assist a police investigation into a missing child. It stars Affleck’s younger brother Casey, as well as Michelle Monaghan and Oscar winner Morgan Freeman.
The film was to have had a Gala Screening at next month’s London Film Festival, when Affleck was due to attend, but has also been withdrawn from the festival schedule.
Organiser Sandra Hebron said she fully supported the distributor’s decision to withdraw the film.
The Hollywood Reporter recently predicted in its review of Gone Baby Gone that it would “remembered be as one of the best crime movies of this decade”.
Find out more about Gone Baby Gone
What do you think?
Yes, the movie would be sensitive at this time but the story is unrelated in that it’s a work of fiction. By releasing something at the cinema people have to make an active choice to PAY to go and see it. This decision deprives people from seeing something that, according to ALL reports, looks set to become one of the films of the year. It’s a very great shame…
Steve Sep 15 #