Sony
Do American mass shootings change the way you watch gun violence in Hollywood movies? Should they? Nobody blames moviegoers for enjoying that brand of entertainment, no matter how many bullets fly for two straight hours.
But we continue to find ourselves asking these questions in the wake of more violent tragedies involving guns.
In the aftermath of the Orlando nightclub massacre in 2016, I compiled a list of 25 releases from that year whose posters feature characters with guns. Little more than a year later, after the horrible tragedy that left 59 dead in Las Vegas, we once again couldn't help but notice how prominent guns remain on movie posters, perhaps even more than ever. So we found 41 posters from films released in 2017. After the awful mass shootings in Parkland, Houston and elsewhere throughout the U.S. in 2018, we found 43 more posters that did the same.
Now after last weekend's mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, as the gun debate rages on and even focuses on the entertainment industry's role in it, the firearm-heavy marketing hasn't changed at all.
This time, we found 31 movie posters for movies from 2019 that prominently feature guns on them.
Again, no one blames you (or me) for champing at the bit to see movies that have gun play. We love movies of all kinds that involve firearms be they based in reality or fantasy. Certain genres about real people and historical events make it impossible to avoid telling stories without the use of those kinds of weapons.
But as the gun debate continues to rage on, we can't help but notice movie posters like these from Hollywood, a place perceived as a liberal paradise keen on preaching about moral values and responsibilities. Does that make Hollywood hypocritical? Take a look at these posters from 2019, and you tell us.
We repeat: It's nothing new
Dating back to the dawn of movie marketing, guns have dominated movie posters. And why shouldn't they? Even those looking to films as an escape from the horrors of the real world rarely hesitate to buy a ticket for the latest action flick in which our hero vanquishes villains with a 9-milimeter or 12-gauge. It's a part of our DNA, thus it's a part of Hollywood's. Their product reflects our wants and desires, so that's why Dirty Harry holds a .44 Magnum.
Gerard Butler returns to this action franchise about a Secret Service agent seemingly diverting everyone on Earth from assassinating the president. Lots of bullets in these films, unsurprisingly.
Summit Entertainment
Anna
French filmmaker Luc Besson's latest action flick about an assassin stars Sasha Luss.
Summit Entertainment
Columbia Pictures
Charlie's Angels
Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska star in this update on the popular TV series, this time with pretty gold guns.
Netflix
Close
Noomi Rapace stars in this Netflix thriller about a female bodyguard and the heiress she is hired to protect as they go on the run from assassins.
Summit Entertainment
Cold Pursuit
Liam Neeson plays a grieving snowplow driver who seeks out revenge against the drug dealers who killed his son. He spends much of it toting a rifle.
Summit Entertainment
No gun that we can see on the poster, but there's the point of view from a scope, plus a dead body in the bottom right-hand corner.
Focus Features
The Dead Don't Die
Director Jim Jarmusch's tale about a town that finds itself battling a zombie horde as the dead start rising from their graves. Shotguns are pretty commonplace in zombie flicks.
Saban Films
Domino
Crime thriller from director Brian De Palma about a police officer who seeks justice for his partner's murder by a mysterious man. Stars "Game of Thrones" actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
Lionsgate
Hellboy
A reboot nobody asked for, but rest assured, Hellboy's gun is bigger than yours.
Netflix
The Highwaymen
Woody Harrelson and Kevin Costner are ready to draw as a pair of Texas Rangers who come out of retirement to catch the infamous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde.
Universal
Hobbs & Shaw
Only one character dons a firearm on this poster, but guns play a big role in this "Fast & Furious" spinoff starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham.
Johnson has since tweeted about the El Paso tragedy.
Bleecker Street
Hotel Mumbai
The tragic true story of the Taj Hotel terrorist attack in Mumbai. Stars Dev Patel and Armie Hammer. The poster graphic blends the outline of the hotel and what looks like an AK-47.
Lionsgate
John Wick 3
The reigning king of movie gunplay, the "John Wick" franchise even named its third installment after a gun. The world "parabellum" literally means a type of semiautomatic pistol or machine gun.
Lionsgate
The posters fittingly stylize firearms as much as the films do.
Lionsgate
Lionsgate
Lionsgate
The Kid
Vincent D'Onofrio's western tells the story of a young boy who witnesses Billy the Kid's encounter with Sheriff Pat Garrett. Stars Ethan Hawke and Chris Pratt.
Warner Bros.
The Kitchen
Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss play the wives of New York gangsters in Hell's Kitchen in the 1970s who continue to operate their husbands' rackets after they're locked up in prison.
Sony
Men in Black: International
Movie stars never look cooler than when they wear sunglasses, suits and big guns draped on their shoulders. Sci-fi guns, sure, but guns nonetheless.
Sony
Sony
Miss Bala
Gina Rodriguez stars as a woman caught in the dangerous world of cross-border crime in this remake of the popular Spanish-language thriller.
Sony
Disney
Ready or Not
A bride's wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws force her to take part in a terrifying game. Pick a weapon -- any weapon -- on this poster.
Netflix
Shaft
JJ Shaft, a cyber security expert with a degree from MIT, enlists his family's help to uncover the truth behind his best friend's untimely death in this latest update on the cop film franchise.
Disney
Stuber
A detective recruits his Uber driver into an unexpected night of adventure. Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista star in this action-comedy.
Disney
Paramount
Terminator: Dark Fate
Few film franchises have glorified gunplay more than James Cameron's "Terminator." But hey, you need heavy firepower to fight evil cyborgs from the future.
Netflix
Triple Frontier
Former special forces operatives reunite to take down a South American drug lord in this Netflix action flick. Hard to spot the guns here, but those magazines ain't for reading.
Columbia Pictures
Zombieland: Double Tap
The popular zombie flick reloads for a sequel starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin. We know the rules of zombie movies. You need guns.
Columbia Pictures
Lionsgate
I'm as big a fan of directors like John Woo, James Cameron, Martin Scorsese and Michael Bay, whose work is steeped in gun violence merely meant to put smiles on the faces of those seeking it out. That said, in light of so many real world atrocities, it's now hard to ignore all the posters featuring A-list celebrities brandishing firearms when we walk into the theater lobby.
With larger platforms, people are louder than ever about the gun debate. But even real world incidents haven't stopped Hollywood from appealing to our firearm-infused sensibilities. We have a thirst for cinematic carnage propelled by balletic bullet battles, and we don't think twice about it. So that's why we see so many guns in our movie marketing. In fact, it's hard to avoid it.
As a longtime movie fan, I feel it's important to take a step back and try to survey to entire landscape, including what role movies might play in these senseless tragedies. I tend to err on the side of entertainment playing a very limited role, but I can't help but notice how prevalent gun imagery is in movie marketing materials. I don't necessarily consider this the problem because these films are meant to entertain, and that is clear to most people.
The intention here is to merely bring attention to the imagery and ask readers if they feel it plays any role at all in inspiring gun violence. I don't know the answer. To be frank, I grew up enjoying plenty of gun-heavy action movies, but as I've grown older, I definitely watch it all through a different lens and have shied away a bit from that type of content.
It's a touchy subject that obviously provokes emotional reactions, and I certainly don't take that lightly. Please share your thoughts, and please remain respectful.
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