'A Dog's Purpose' LA Premiere Canceled Amid Allegations of Animal Cruelty
— -- Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment have canceled the Los Angeles premiere of "A Dog's Purpose" this weekend amid calls for a boycott by PETA, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The controversy stems from a video that surfaced Wednesday that appears to show a frightened German Shepherd being forced into a turbulent pool of water intended to simulate river rapids for one of the film's planned scenes. The scene in question was later scrapped.
Universal and Amblin released a joint statement on Thursday that reads, "Because Amblin's review into the edited video released [Wednesday] is still ongoing, distributor Universal Pictures has decided it is in the best interest of 'A Dog's Purpose' to cancel this weekend's premiere and press junket. Amblin and Universal do not want anything to overshadow this film that celebrates the relationship between humans and animals.
"Since the emergence of the footage, Amblin has engaged with many associated with the production of the film, including safety personnel, trainers and stunt coordinators as part of their in-depth review," the statement continues. "While we are all disheartened by the appearance of an animal in distress, everyone has assured us that Hercules the German Shepherd was not harmed throughout the filmmaking."
In addition to the boycott, PETA is calling on the film's director, Lasse Hallstrom, and producer Gavin Polone to pledge never to use animals in films again and to rescue the dogs from the training and handling facility that reportedly supplied the animals for the film.
Polone, an animal rights activist, accused PETA of wanting to "fire up its base" in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
"It's not productive," he said. "It's also kind of crazy -- I'm the person they should be strong-arming? This is a movie about promoting the idea of animals as sentient and deserving of empathy and rights."
Hallstrom did not respond to The Hollywood Reporter's request for comment on the premiere's cancellation but earlier expressed his concern over the video on social media.
"I am very disturbed by the video released today from the set of my film A dog's purpose," he wrote on Twitter. "I did not witness these actions. We were all committed to providing a loving and safe environment for all the animals in the film. I have been promised that a thorough investigation into this situation is underway and that any wrongdoing will be reported and punished."
"A Dog’s Purpose" is slated to hit theaters in wide release on Jan. 27.
