Man, tip your cap to the marketing crew at 20th Century Fox, which redirected one of 2012's most unfortunate current-events overlaps into a completely revised angle that it probably should have pursued in the first place. Behold: the new and improved teaser for The Watch, complete with introduction by star Vince Vaughn.
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High five to Fox for pulling their bullet-ridden Neighborhood Watch marketing materials from Florida theaters this week following the February killing of Trayvon Martin. Trying to get as much distance as possible from the teaser's emphasis on grown men Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, and Richard Ayoade stalking and finger-shooting suburban kids is a good idea and a sensitive move -- not to mention a no-brainer necessity, PR-wise -- so the studio's forthcoming campaign will likely focus on the film's "broad alien-invasion comedy" elements. But even four months from now, will it be too soon for Neighborhood Watch to make fun escapism out of vigilante violence?
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Earlier today, various trades reported that Chris Tucker is circling two big Hollywood roles -- one in David O. Russell's The Silver Linings Playbook and the other in Neighborhood Watch opposite Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill. Nearly all reports also noted that Tucker has been curiously absent from the box office since 2007's Rush Hour 3, which is strange considering that the actor was in the middle of a career upswing that started with Friday, continued with his Jackie Chan franchise and could have ended with the actor becoming one of the most marketable movie stars this decade. But after some careful math, Movieline HQ can tell you exactly why Tucker was free to retreat from the box office...
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