Warner Bros. moves ‘Gangster Squad’ to 2013 after shooting

“Gangster Squad,” a Warner Bros. movie featuring a shootout at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, will not arrive in theaters in September as initially planned but instead will be released in January.

Trailers for “Gangster Squad,” which had been set for a Sept. 7 release, prominently featured the shootout. The 1940s period piece, centered on gangster Mickey Cohen’s attempted takeover of Los Angeles, stars Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling and comes from “Zombieland” director Ruben Fleischer. In the theater scene, automatic gunfire rips through the screen as horrified filmgoers rush for the exits and police try to stop the mayhem.

After the news of Friday’s shooting in Aurora, Colo., Warner Bros. pulled the trailer from theaters. It had been playing in front of movies including Warner Bros.’ “The Dark Knight Rises.” In addition, the trailer was removed from websites such as YouTube.

In the wake of the shooting, studio executives have been discussing recutting the film to minimize the theater shooting scene or remove it altogether, two knowledgeable people not authorized to discuss the matter publicly said last week.

It was unclear Wednesday whether the studio had decided to recut or reshoot the scene. Warner Bros. representatives did not respond to a request for comment, but the release date has been changed on the company’s main website.

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