A change in PHONE BOOTH's release date?

By Jennifer H. Tomooka     October 14, 2002
Source: VARIETY

In a terribly unfortunate case of life imitating art, VARIETY reports that Twentieth Century Fox execs are questioning the November 15 release of their sniper thriller PHONE BOOTH after the recent fatalities in Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland.

In PHONE BOOTH, Colin Farrell plays Stu Shepard, a New York City publicist who, after picking up a ringing phone in a phone booth, is told by a sniper (Kiefer Sutherland) that if he hangs up, he'll be killed.

VARIETY reported that a spokeswoman for Fox said that the company is "evaluating the situation."

However, PHONE BOOTH director Joel Schumacher told DAILY VARIETY that he felt that the gruesome reality of events of terror in the eastern United States and the events in his fantasy thriller were "such different cases" that he had not given much thought to the possibility of a delay.

"I mean, there are many serial killers that haven't been caught," Schumacher explains. "Should they not release RED DRAGON?"

But frustrations aside, Schumacher has stated that he will honor "whatever anybody [at Fox] thinks is best" for the film.

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