ëHangover 2í a studio headache?
HOLLYWOOD — Is The Hangover: Part II, not due in theatres until May 26, already creating a potential headache for its studio?
We ask because of a recent development involving a preview trailer being abruptly pulled from movie theatres.
The official explanation is that the R-rated trailer, shown before screenings of the PG-13 rated Source Code, hadn’t previously been cleared by the Motion Picture Association of America.
Sounds suspiciously like a convenient excuse to us.
Why?
For starters, you’d think that, after 60-odd years, Warner Bros. would know a thing or two about protocol when it comes to submitting their motion picture product for classification by the ratings authorities.
And that big “oops” could sure come in handy if they’d want to yank said trailer for another reason — one that they’d not care to share with the movie-going public.
Because if you happened to have seen the trailer — it’s readily available on line if you haven’t — then you’d know that it looks remarkably like a rehash of a lot of the same stuff that they showed in the previews for the 2009 original, which also starred Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and break-out star Zach Galifianakis.
But where the first Hangover was a deserved international smash, with its worldwide box office of over $467 million reflecting the fact that it was an audacious blast of comedy fresh air, the sequel, at least judging from that trailer, seemed like a considerably less inspired retread.
Could those Warner Bros. execs have been concerned the audience response to the yanked trailer might have been not so enthusiastic?
We’ll never know for sure, but it turns out the trailer wasn’t the only thing that was scrapped.
Liam Neeson’s touted Hangover II cameo will also be nowhere to be seen when the finished product hits theatres next month.
As you may recall, Neeson was brought in to play the small but pivotal role of a crazy Bangkok tattoo artist after Mel Gibson was initially recruited but subsequently dis-invited to the party.
When director Todd Phillips found himself requiring later reshoots on the film, the sequence also required reworking, but Neeson was stuck on the London set of Wrath of the Titans at the time and couldn’t comply.
As a result, Gibson’s, then Neeson’s cameo is now being played by The Notebook director Nick Cassavetes.
We’re sure he did a bang-up job, but somehow we can’t imagine folks in the audience going, “Hey isn’t that the dude who directed that chick flick, The Notebook?”
Of course, we’re still rooting for The Hangover: Part II to ultimately prevail, but somehow we’ve got the nagging feeling that what happens in Bangkok isn’t going to be nearly as much fun as what stayed in Vegas.
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